


Christmas Magic

by Jenanigans1207



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Christmas Shopping, College AU, Decorating, Falling In Love, Fluff, Hot Cocoa, Idiots in Love, Klancember, Letters to Santa, M/M, Mutual Pining, Sledding, Slow Burn, Tooth Rotting Fluff, and there's definitely confirmed shadam, but for klance, i think, ice skatng, if I can hold out long enough, it's supposed to be a slow burn anyways, klancemas, lance is a TA, lots of time with the fam, meet cute, or adashi, shiro is a mall santa, this is basically just a hallmark movie, whichever ship name you prefer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:53:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 60,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21779395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jenanigans1207/pseuds/Jenanigans1207
Summary: In the back of his mind, Lance knew he needed to get back to Nadia and Sylvio. He knew that he needed to go before he overstayed his welcome. He needed to go before he managed to mess up this conversation. There was something to be said for quitting while ahead and right now Lance was as far ahead as he’d ever been. He’d done what he set out to do— he’d said hi to Keith and now Shiro was going to get off his back. Logically, he knew all of this.But Lance was an even bigger idiot than he’d realized. Instead of leaving, instead of walking away and ending things on a good note, he glanced up at Keith’s eyes, “Well, if all you need to get out of it is plans, we should do something tomorrow.”-- Or;Lance learns that Keith doesn't have much Christmas spirit and is determined to help him find the magic of Christmas.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 31
Kudos: 188





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Me again!  
> So, this started out as a prompt I got from somebody that I loved. And then somehow it morphed into 13 chapters and a 12 days of Christmas sort of thing. So, I'm going to be posting a chapter a day starting today and ending on Christmas day (barring nothing happens in my life to prevent that). I have 4.5 of the 13 chapters written already and it's sitting pretty at around 22k right now. So this is gonna be long. And it's going to be full of fluff and cliches and lots of Christmas Spirit. I hope you guys will join me for the ride!
> 
> Also, consider following me on instagram! It's the same username as here. And if you followed me there already, you knew that this fic was coming since I've been screaming about it there for a week or so now. I will also post the chapters in parts on instagram and likely won't post the remaining chapters here until the end of each day, after they're fully up on insta. So if you want the rest of the chapters sooner, that's the place to find them!
> 
> I hope ya'll are having a great Christmas season so far and I hope I get to contribute to continuing to make it great! Love you all!!

Lance enjoyed the mall, but only a reasonable amount. Certainly not enough to subject himself to the crazy holiday crowds, the ridiculous lines and the sudden spike in prices. In fact, there were only two things that could get him to endure the madness and both of them were standing in front of him in the line for Santa, staring up at him with their big eyes and bouncing from foot to foot with excitement.

“Okay you two,” Lance leaned down slightly to address his niece and nephew directly, “Have you made your lists of what you want from Santa?”

“Yes!” Nadia cried, throwing a fist in the air. Immediately, she began prattling off an assortment of different items. Lance listened closely, smiling and nodding the entire time and tucking the items away in the back of his mind so that he could buy her some and suggest the rest of them to his siblings.

The mall was packed to the brim it seemed like, everyone trying to get the last items on their shopping list. Christmas was just under two weeks away and Lance was, for the most part, done shopping. But he never closed himself off to a good last minute idea if one were to strike.

“And what about you?” He prompted to Sylvio once Nadia had finished talking.

Sylvio looked a little more sullen, a little quieter. “What if I think I have it all but I’m wrong?” He asked after a moment, his big eyes peering at Lance from behind the scarf he still had wrapped around his neck. “What if I forget to ask for something?”

“Oh,” Lance smiled down at him, reaching a hand out to place it comfortingly on his shoulder. “That’s no big deal, buddy! If you forget something, we can just write Santa a letter with whatever you forgot!”

“Really?” Sylvio perked up for a moment before a new thought seemed to occur to him and bring him right back down. “Will it get to him in time?”

“Are you doubting Santa’s magic?” Lance removed his hand from Sylvio’s shoulder and tapped him gently on the nose instead, “Of course it will get to him in time. As long as you send it before Christmas.”

“Promise?” Sylvio asked.

Both Sylvio and Nadia were looking up at him, enraptured and hopeful for his answer. Lance pressed a hand to his chest, over his heart, “Cross my heart.”

The line moved forward then and Sylvio and Nadia both bounded into the newly empty space, their spirits once again high. Lance couldn’t stop himself from smiling as he stepped up beside them again. His siblings had promised the kids that they’d go see Santa, but Marco’s schedule had been so busy that he hadn’t been able to find time. It was looking like a lost cause for awhile, before Lance realized that he, in fact, knew one of the mall Santas. And so, he’d volunteered to take the kids.

What else was he going to do? Let them go the whole season without asking Santa for what they wanted? Lance had never been strong enough to deny Nadia or Sylvio what they wanted and this was absolutely no exception.

So, Lance had reached out to Shiro— the professor he was a TA for— and asked what his schedule as Santa was. It honestly hadn’t surprised Lance in the least when he’d learned that Shiro was a mall Santa. He worked with college students, but there wasn’t an ounce of doubt inside Lance that Shiro adored little kids, even if he’d never seen him interacting with any. Shiro was the sort of person who was kind to his very core, it felt like a natural leap to picture him dressed as Santa listening to little kids all day long.

Shiro had been thrilled at the prospect of Lance bringing the kids, immediately rattling off days where it was his turn to don the suit. And then— and then he’d paused, backtracked and picked one  _ specific _ day for Lance to come, insisting it had to be that day and that day only. Lance hadn’t questioned him, even though he’d wanted to, because there was something about the twinkle in Shiro’s eye that told him he’d find out why soon enough. And so, Lance had waited, promising the kids that they would go on that day.

And that day had finally come.

From his spot in line, Lance watched Shiro, smiling to himself at how happy Shiro looked. The man was downright beaming as he leaned down, turning his ear to the little girl in his lap and listening to her whisper her wishes in his ear. He turned his face to her next, his fake beard brushing across her shoulder as he leaned in to whisper back to her, clearly delighting in the large grin that broke across her face as she squealed and threw her arms around his neck. Lance had been excited before even getting to the mall, but now  _ he _ was practically bouncing from foot to foot with anticipation. Shiro was going to be  _ amazing _ with the kids and Lance was certain they were going to be talking about it every day from now until Christmas.

He had already been happy to be sharing this moment with them but now he was filled to the brim with gratefulness. He had considered moving away for college but had ultimately decided against it and moments like these were what made his decision completely worth it. Nothing could be better than watching Nadia and Sylvio grab each other’s hands in line, the anxious energy clear between them. No school, no program,  _ nothing _ could be worth missing out on moments like this.

The line had been shut down after Lance and the kids had joined so that Shiro would have the ability to take a break and eat lunch, so there was nobody behind them. And now, suddenly, there was nobody in front of them, either. It was just one kid on Santa’s lap and then the three of them, standing in line and staring wide-eyed and wondering at Shiro.

“Okay you guys, are you ready?” Lance crouched down completely, pulling the two of them flush into him in a hug.

“Uncle Lance!” Nadia whined, pushing against him so she could be free to bound up to Shiro the  _ nanosecond _ he was free. “I need to go see Santa!”

Lance laughed, letting go of her. He held onto Sylvio for a moment longer, whispering encouragements in his ear. And then, suddenly, Shiro’s lap was free and he was smiling down at the three of them. Nadia gasped out loud before rushing forward, practically diving onto Shiro’s lap. Shiro laughed, catching her with ease and settling her properly onto his knee before bending down to talk to her. And, as Lance watched, he could feel his own heart pitter-pattering in his chest, filling up with that childlike wonder and glee. It almost felt like  _ he _ was about to be the one to sit on Santa’s lap, even though he knew better. There was just something about the magic of it all that was contagious.

Nadia seemed to be done with her list and Shiro was laughing, holding her close. One of the workers dressed as elves stepped forward then to take their picture and Nadia was beaming so brightly it was nearly blinding. It made Lance’s heart grow three sizes. Sylvio finally pressed away from Lance once Nadia had returned, taking a bold step forward. And then another, and another. And suddenly he was the one on Shiro’s lap, looking timidly down at his own knees.

“Did you get to ask for everything you wanted?” Lance murmured to Nadia as they watched. She nodded vehemently but didn’t speak, eyes glued on her brother before her.

Lance glanced around then, just for a moment while Sylvio collected his courage and suddenly his eyes snagged on something. He glanced back again to realize that he recognized one of the elves. Lance nearly choked— on laughter or surprise, he couldn’t honestly say which— when he caught a glimpse of a dark mullet sticking out from underneath one of the pointy elf hats. Sure enough, a moment later, the elf turned around and it was none other than Keith Kogane— perhaps the single person on  _ Earth _ Lance would consider  _ least _ likely to be dressed as an elf— scribbling on a piece of paper.

Immediately Lance realized why Shiro had been so insistent that he come this day.

Keith was…

Well, okay, Keith was attractive.

But that was it! Nothing more.

Mostly because Lance had never gotten up the guts to talk to him.

Keith was also Shiro’s brother. Not by blood, but the bond was still the same. Lance had asked once, when he first found out, and Shiro had said that they’d grown up next to each other. At first they’d played together and then, when Shiro was older, he had babysat Keith. Essentially they’d spent their entire lives together, despite the few years of an age difference, and regarded each other as brothers. It was sweet, Lance had thought when he’d first heard. It quickly became less sweet when Shiro had taken his interest as an invitation to try and play matchmaker.

Since the moment Lance had asked about Keith— successfully finding out about their relationship to each other— Shiro had taken every opportunity to invite Lance to absolutely  _ anything _ that Keith might be involved in. Honestly, Lance had gotten in the habit of saying no to Shiro before he even finished asking.

It wasn’t that Lance didn’t want to get to know Keith— he did, he definitely did— but he wanted it to be on his terms. He didn’t need his boss whispering in Keith’s ear, telling him all the ridiculous things that Lance had done in class and painting a picture of who he was. Lance was perfectly capable of embarrassing himself without any help, thank you very much.

Wait, that didn’t come out right.

The point was, Lance wanted to get to know Keith on his own terms and in his own time. Which, as it turned out, wasn’t about to be any time soon because he hadn’t even gotten up the guts to look Keith in the eyes for more than a quarter of a second.

“Uncle Lance, Uncle Lance!” Sylvio came bounding back to Lance, jumping into his open arms. “I did it! I talked to Santa!”

“You did!” Lance agreed, holding him close. “You did so great! I’m very proud of you for being so brave! And I’m sure Santa is proud too!”

Sylvio beamed up at him, his smile as contagious as the Christmas magic. Lance found himself smiling down at Sylvio and Nadia, the feeling of contentedness filling his heart to the brim and then overflowing.

“Are  _ you _ going to talk to Santa, Uncle Lance?” Nadia asked, eyes wide.

Normally, if Santa were literally any other person, Lance would say no. But this wasn’t a random mall Santa, this was Shiro. And with Keith standing about five feet away, Lance knew he needed to talk to him.

“You know what? Yeah, I am. I’m going to go tell Santa how good you two were this year so he’s sure to get you as much as he can!”

The kids nearly vibrated with excitement as Lance stood back up and approached Shiro, asking the nearest elf that  _ wasn’t _ Keith to watch the two of them. Nadia and Sylvio followed the girl to the computer, looking excitedly at their pictures with Santa as Lance walked away.

“They’re adorable, Lance.” Shiro said as soon as Lance got close enough to hear.

Lance spared a glance back at them, smiling proudly as he did so. “They’re pretty excellent, I must say.” He agreed. “And you, my friend, are not subtle at all.”

“What do you mean?” Shiro feigned innocence but it wasn’t even the slightest bit convincing. His grin was so wide that his ridiculous fake beard couldn’t even hide it.

“Hate you break it to you, but you’ve got the wrong holiday.” Lance said with a sigh, trying— and failing— to look annoyed at Shiro. “You’re supposed to be playing Santa, not Cupid.”

“Just say  _ hi _ to him.” There was almost a pleading tone to Shiro’s voice but Lance didn’t question it. “Just once. Just say hi to him  _ once _ and I’ll let it go.”

“I have said hi to him!” Lance protested, catching himself mid sentence and dropping his voice lower so nobody but Shiro could possibly hear. “Remember that time he came to pick up one of the books from your classroom? I said hi to him then!”

“Oh, you mean that time you turned  _ so red _ that you froze in your spot?” Shiro teased, his impossibly wide grin somehow growing wider. “And by the time you managed to finally stutter out a hello, he was already gone?”

“You’re the worst,” Lance grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and glancing involuntarily over at Keith who was still bent over whatever sheet of paper he was working on.

He looked ridiculous in his elf uniform. He truly did. Ridiculous in a way that sort of worked on him, though, and it frustrated Lance. Mostly Lance had only seen Keith from afar, but the guy looked good in everything. His ripped jeans and leather jacket he wore on the days he rode his motorcycle to class were Lance’s favorite, but all of it worked. A hoodie and jeans, sweatpants and a t shirt— even a goddamned  _ elf costume _ . The guy looked good in  _ everything _ and it was distinctly  _ not _ helpful to Lance’s poor heart that was already struggling hard enough.

“Say  _ hi _ to him,” Shiro urged again, giving Lance a little nudge and making it clear that he was not about to back off any time soon.

“Fine,” Lance sighed, shooting a glare of his shoulder at Shiro, “But you  _ have _ to lay off after this.”

Shiro nodded at him in acknowledgement of his statement, still beaming as Lance approached Keith, hands shoved deep in his pockets in an attempt to pull it together.

The walk was far too short for Lance to really come up with something good to say to break the ice. Mostly he just hoped that he said  _ anything at all _ . Any ice breaker, no matter how ridiculous, was going to be better than nothing.

“You know,” He said when he was still a step or two away from Keith, afraid of losing his nerve if he waited any longer. “I think elves are supposed to look happy.”

Alright, Lance congratulated himself mentally, not a bad start. He could definitely work with that.

“Yes, well,” Keith didn’t glance up right away from what appeared to be a list of names of all the kids Shiro had seen. It was surprisingly long, “I think most elves actually want to be here.”

“And you don’t?” Lance prompted, because he was an idiot. An idiot who was desperate to keep conversation going, despite how strongly he’d been protesting it just moments before.

Finally, Keith glanced up and Lance wasn’t sure if he  _ was _ or  _ wasn’t _ thankful for it. The hat pushed Keith’s bangs into his eyes and the hair around his ears curled up against gravity, sticking out at silly angles. It looked so  _ ridiculous _ that Lance wanted to stare at it for the rest of his life. Because that’s what people did with ridiculous looking things, obviously.

“Oh,” Keith said after a moment. “Lance.”

Lance’s heart flipped in his chest at the realization that Keith knew his name.

“Hi,” Lance felt lame, but he wasn’t sure how else he was supposed to reply to that.

“Hi,” Keith responded after a moment, blinking away the stunned expression on his face and glancing, for the briefest of moments, at Shiro over Lance’s shoulder.

“So,” Lance drawled after an awkward pause. “You don’t want to be here?”

“No,” Keith replied immediately, and his looked to Shiro turned into a glare. “I was dragged here against my will.” He said the last part just loudly enough for Shiro to hear and, a moment later, Lance could hear Shiro’s quiet laughter in response.

“Oh,” It was Lance’s turn to have no real response.

Luckily for him, Keith wasn’t done talking. Lance had to take a breath to steady himself as the realization sunk in that he was actually having a conversation with Keith. “ _ And _ I’m being forced against my will to be here tomorrow, too.”

“You didn’t have anything else to do!” Shiro chimed in.

In the back of his mind, Lance knew he needed to get back to Nadia and Sylvio. He knew that he needed to go before he overstayed his welcome. He needed to go before he managed to mess up this conversation. There was something to be said for quitting while ahead and right now Lance was as far ahead as he’d ever been. He’d done what he set out to do— he’d said hi to Keith and now Shiro was going to get off his back. Logically, he knew all of this.

But Lance was an even bigger idiot than he’d realized. Instead of leaving, instead of walking away and ending things on a good note, he glanced up at Keith’s eyes, “Well, if all you need to get out of it is plans, we should do something tomorrow.”

Immediately he wanted to run and hide, to grab Nadia and Sylvio by the arms and sprint the entire way to the car. He wanted to take the words back, to swallow them whole and pretend he’d never said them. Not even Christmas magic could undo the fact that he’d just said that. He stared at Keith, wide-eyed and frozen again, unsure of what to do from here. Because he  _ wanted _ to run, but he also wanted to play it cool. And cool guys didn’t go sprinting in the opposite direction, no matter what they’d said.

“Okay,” Keith said after a moment of consideration. “What do you want to do?”

“Wait—  _ really? _ ” Lance knew he must look as startled as he felt, but he didn’t care. His mind kept snagging on the fact that Keith had said yes, repeating it over and over in his head as if that could somehow make it more believable. It couldn’t.

“Yeah?” Keith reached up to yank the hat off his head, freeing his long hair. He reached up as he spoke, running his fingers through his hair and tousling it into the same purposely messy look that Lance was used to seeing on him. Lance nearly got the breath punched out of his lungs. “Unless you were kidding?”

“No!” Lance replied way too hastily. Cool guys definitely didn’t reply that frantically. He tried to bring himself back down a few notches but it didn’t work. “No, no, not at all. I definitely wasn’t kidding.”

“Great,” Keith said, but he looked a little hesitant. He was glancing between Lance’s eyes, eyebrows drawn together as if trying to read the expression on Lance’s face.

_ Great _ , Lance repeated to himself, reminding himself to calm down before he scared Keith away completely. He took a breath, slowing down his speaking and trying to look cool. As cool as someone could look in an oversized green christmas sweater, anyways. “What, ah, would you like to do?”

Keith shrugged, his eyes straying from Lance’s after a moment. He seemed to fix them down at the table that separated them. “I’m up for anything.”

“Hot cocoa, then?” Lance prompted after a moment, wracking his mind for something that was still festive but not demanding at all. “We can get it and walk around town and just look at the lights? You can ditch as soon as your cocoa is done if you want, I won’t tell Shiro.”

That drew a smile out of Keith, “Yeah, that sounds great. Let’s do that.”

“Okay,” Lance said around his heartbeat thundering in his throat. His voice felt as unsteady as his heart.

And then, “Okay, I’ll get your number from Shiro and text you tomorrow.”

“Right,” Lance nodded to acknowledge this. He thought about saying that he could give Keith his number right now. He did know his own number, after all. He could do it. But he didn’t. Instead he just stood there. And stood there. And stood there for another moment. Finally, after what had to be far too long to be socially acceptable, he stammered out “Okay, well, see you tomorrow!”

And then he fled to his niece and nephew before Keith even had a chance to reply.

Quickly, Lance gathered Nadia and Sylvio up and ushered them towards the door, purposely not looking at Shiro on his way out. He didn’t need to look to imagine what the shit-eating grin was going to look like. Plus, he was still so jittery from this new development in his life that he couldn’t focus on anything else.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Keith texted him the next day, Lance had already paced so many circles around his room that there was probably a path paved into the carpet. He’d given up hope, throwing his phone onto the bed and plopped down himself, draping a hand over his eyes and scolding himself for being bold enough to essentially ask out  _ Keith Kogane _ .

And then, when Lance was deep in the throes of berating himself, his phone vibrated. At first, he didn’t even look at it. His heart had leapt straight into his throat, but he didn’t want to be hopeful. It was most likely Hunk texting him, or Pidge asking for help with something. The odds of it being Keith, of all people, were slim to none. Hell, it was more likely that it was Shiro canceling  _ for _ Keith.

But, the anticipation ate away at him and he only managed to fend off looking at his phone for approximately thirty seconds before snatching it out from underneath the pillow next to him and lifting it up.

_ [Keith Kogane 11:52am] _

_ Hey, we still on for today? _

(Okay, fine, he had asked Shiro for Keith’s number once, awhile ago. It was when Shiro had first started trying to play matchmaker and Lance had asked in hopes that it would get Shiro off his back. It had the opposite effect, of course. And Lance had never once used the number)

Lance nearly leaped off of his bed at the text, but he refrained. His entire body buzzed with a nervous sort of energy because  _ holy shit this was actually happening _ . It took him three breaths to calm down enough to even consider replying. He considered texting Hunk for advice but decided against it. Hunk had been teasing him for awhile about his crush on Keith and Lance had vehemently denied it, insisting it was impossible to have a crush on someone you had never talked to or interacted with.

And it  _ was _ impossible to have a crush like that.

Lance did  _ not _ have a crush on Keith. He just thought Keith was interesting. He thought there had to be more to Keith than met the eye. That was it, really. He was just a little interested in getting to know who Keith really was, under the leather jackets and beanies. He’d seen Keith and Shiro chatting before, had seen Keith’s face break out into a grin as he threw his head back and laughed at something Shiro had said. 

(His heart had nearly erupted from his chest at the sight, but he wasn’t acknowledging that).

And there had been numerous times where he’d walked by their lecture hall or popped his head in for the briefest of moments to confirm something with Shiro. And the times Lance had passed him in the library, twisted like a damn pretzel in his chair as he read whatever book he was working on at the time. There was just— there was more to him than the cool, hard, aloof exterior, and it didn’t seem like many people knew the other sides of him. And Lance wanted to know those sides. He wanted to know the small things like Keith’s favorite color, or his drink of choice. He wanted to be able to call Keith his friend.

So it wasn’t criminal that he’d invited Keith out today. And it certainly didn’t mean anything more. But nobody would believe him— they never did— so he suppressed the urge to text Hunk and just collected himself independently before texting Keith back.

_ [Lance McClain 11:59am] _

_ Yeah, totally! When are you free? _

Lance smiled to himself after he sent the text. Totally cool and calm, a completely reasonable response. Still pleased with himself, he went to set his phone down but it buzzed in his hand before he had a chance to drop it back on the bed. It nearly slipped out of his hands as he scrambled to bring it back up to his face, swallowing around the roaring pulse in his throat as he saw Keith’s name on his screen again.

_ [Keith Kogane 11:59 am] _

_ I don’t have any plans today, so whenever you want _ .

_ Too much power _ , Lance thought immediately. Keith was giving him too much power. And the pressure was  _ on _ . It was up to him now to decide how their first hangout went and Lance wanted it to be perfect. He needed it to be something low pressure and cool, something that Keith wouldn’t think is totally lame. Lance wracked his brain for ideas, discarding all of them almost as soon as they crossed his mind. Nothing seemed quite right, nothing was good enough. 

And then, just when Lance was about to give up hope and switch to thinking of a good excuse for bailing instead, an idea occurred to him.

_ [Lance McClain 12:08pm] _

_ Have you been downtown to see the lights yet? _

_ [Keith Kogane 12:09pm] _

_ No. _

_ I’m not much of a Christmas guy. _

Lance gasped, affronted at Keith’s audacity, but smiling nonetheless. He immediately began tapping on his phone screen, fingers moving furiously over the letters as he laughed to himself a little.

_ [Lance McClain 12:10pm] _

_ Keith! How could you even say such a thing? Not wanting to work at the mall is one thing, but not liking Christmas at all has to be illegal or something. _

_ [Keith Kogane 12:10pm] _

_ Yeah? Are you the Christmas police? Coming to lock me up or something? _

Lance swallowed against a suddenly dry throat as he read Keith’s reply, trying to keep his cool. It was becoming increasingly hard.

_ [Lance McClain 12:12pm] _

_ I am the Christmas police, but I’m not going to lock you up. I’m going to make sure you learn to love Christmas! _

_ [Keith Kogane 12:12pm] _

_ Hah. _

Lance shook his head fondly at the response. A moment later, a second text came through.

_ Good luck. _

_ [Lance McClain 12:15pm] _

_ I don’t need luck, buddy. I’ve got this in the bag. Meet me downtown in a couple of hours and we’ll get hot chocolate and discuss these illegal actions of yours? _

_ [Keith Kogane 12:17pm] _

_ I’ll agree to the first part, I’m on the fence about the latter half. _

_ [Lance McClain 12:18pm] _

_ Nice try, but you can’t get out of this. See you soon! _

His heart was beating so fast that Lance felt like he’d just run a marathon. Or maybe he felt like he  _ could _ run a marathon. Ten marathons. Back to back, with no breaks. He was grinning so big that he had to actually bite the corner of his lip in an attempt to get it under control, even though it didn’t work in the slightest. 

_ [Keith Kogane 12:20pm] _

_ Yeah, yeah. See you in a bit. _

At that, Lance finally does drop his phone before plopping back on his bed himself. It’s a ridiculous cliche and he knows it, but he kind wants to sprint down the hallway yelling about this new development in his life. He doesn’t, of course, because he is significantly more mature than that. Also because he’s a TA and he’s worked hard to get his peers to respect and listen to him. It took months of effort to get to this point, he wasn’t going to dismantle it in three seconds over some guy.

Plus, it really  _ wasn’t _ something to get that excited about. It really wasn’t. 

Lance reminded himself of that periodically for the next few hours as he paced restlessly around his dorm and looked at every outfit in his closet— and then  _ discarded _ every outfit in his closet, just so he had to look at them all again. Not that it even mattered, anyways. He was planning on walking around town with Keith, looking at the lights and just talking a little bit. Whatever he wore would be covered by his coat, so it made absolutely no difference.

At some point in the middle of the afternoon— when enough time had passed— Lance texted Keith again to set an official meeting time and location. Keith had confirmed and then Lance had been back into his frenzy, relentlessly pacing around his dorm and scrubbing his hands through his hair.

And that was how he had passed the remaining hours. That and checking the clock approximately every three minutes. Finally, finally,  _ finally _ it was late enough for him to leave his dorm, catching a bus to downtown and walking the little remaining distance to their meeting point. He had settled on a cozy blue sweater that made his eyes pop. It really couldn’t be seen from under his sweater but he felt a little bit more confident in it as he marched down the street, hat pulled low over his ears and hands stuffed into his pockets, jacket zipped up as high as it could go with his scarf tucked underneath.

The coffee shop Lance had asked Keith to meet him in front of came into view and Keith was already there, standing next to his motorcycle and swapping his helmet for a beanie. Lance came to a dead stop in the middle of the sidewalk as Keith yanked the helmet off and his hair fell down, just barely brushing his shoulders. Keith set the helmet down on the seat of the bike before running a hand through his hair and settling it into the kind of messy that looked purposeful. And then he pulled a maroon beanie out of his jacket pocket and slipped it on over his head.

And god, he looked  _ so fucking cool _ .

It wasn’t until Keith finished locking his helmet up and turned to see Lance, raising a hand in the air in a greeting that Lance was able to finally snap out of his trance and begin walking again. He just hoped that Keith didn’t realize he’d been so enraptured that he’d stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. That would be both embarrassing and awkward and those were the two main things Lance was trying to avoid.

“Hey,” Keith greeted as Lance finished approaching. He looked so at ease, like he hadn’t spent even a moment selecting his outfit. He probably hadn’t. He probably hadn’t put any thought into this meeting other than the fact that it was getting him out of working.

Suddenly Lance felt a little silly that he’d built it up to be this huge thing. It absolutely was nothing more than an excuse and distraction for Keith. He probably wouldn’t stay more than an hour, anyways. Just enough to get Shiro off his back and justify why he hadn’t gone to help at the mall. 

“Hey,” Lance felt small and he was thankful that his jacket was covering his sweater now. “How are you?”

Keith shrugged in response. Silence fell. Lance considered turning and just walking away completely. 

“So, uh,” He said instead, trying to shake this anxiety away, “I was thinking we could just get some hot cocoa and walk around town and see the lights? And you can tell me why you’re such a Scrooge.”

“Yes, I know.” Keith was smiling a little at him, but it wasn’t teasing. It almost seemed like he could sense Lance’s nerves and was trying to ease them. Honestly, he probably could. Lance was almost certain that he was physically vibrating with his fears. “You said most of that yesterday and the rest of it this morning.”

“Ah, right.” Lance glanced away. He had suggested hot cocoa and lights yesterday, hadn’t he? He’d been so anxious that most of their encounter had just become a sort of nervous blur. “Sorry.”

Keith finally stepped up onto the curb so he was standing directly in front of Lance. He reached out and nudged Lance’s shoulder gently. “Don’t apologize,” He murmured, “Just tell me where we’re going for cocoa because that sounds so good right about now.”

A small flame of hope burned in Lance’s chest at Keith’s kindness. He knew there was more to him than there seemed to be and his nice words made Lance feel like there was at least a chance that this next hour wasn’t going to be a total uncomfortable disaster. Instead of answering— and risking saying something else ridiculous— he gestured over his shoulder with his thumb to the coffee shop that they were standing in front of. Keith looked at him for a moment longer, but Lance wouldn’t meet his eyes directly, instead turning and heading into the shop, Keith close on his heels.

The shop was, unsurprisingly, pretty full. Their downtown tended to go all out with the Christmas spirit, covering every store front in different colored lights and hanging decorations from every lamppost. It was well known in the state and, over the last few years, had been gaining some publicity in the other states as well so it tended to draw a pretty big crowd of people. 

Lance waited in line patiently, staring down at his feet and trying not to glance the foot to the right to where Keith’s feet were, clad in a pair of black vans. The line moved fairly quickly and they were almost to the front when Keith finally spoke up again. He didn’t sound put out at all by the silence that had fallen between them but Lance still felt a twinge of guilt for the fact that he hadn’t been saying  _ anything _ .

“So, what are you getting?” Keith leaned in closer so Lance could hear him over the hustle and bustle of the stop.

Lance tried not to jump out of his skin. He thinks he was mostly successful. “Just a large hot cocoa. With whipped cream, of course.”

“Of course,” Keith agreed, grinning a little.

The person in front of them moved away from the counter and went to join the people waiting for their drinks. Lance was just about to approach the counter when Keith stepped ahead of him, smoothly sliding up to the counter and ordering both of them drinks, drawing his wallet out of his back pocket without any hesitation and paying.

“Thank you,” Lance said when Keith ushered him over to the rest of the people waiting, “But you didn’t have to do that.”

“Are you kidding?” Keith looked so at ease and Lance envied him so badly. “You got me out of working today, buying you a hot cocoa is the least I can do.”

“Right, so not only did I stop you from  _ making _ money today, but I’m also  _ costing  _ you money.” Lance smiled wryly, “Seems like a good deal, you’re right.”

That startled a laugh out of Keith who threw his head back, smiling openly. Lance immediately thought back to the first time he’d seen Keith laughing with Shiro and how badly he’d wanted it to be him making Keith laugh. And now, here he was, getting exactly what he’d wanted and he was too nervous to even appreciate it.

“I still think it’s a good deal,” Keith replied after he stopped laughing, but the smile didn’t leave his face as he spoke. Lance could even hear it in his voice. “It’ll be a better deal if you chill out a little, though. I’m not going to bite you.”

“I know!” Lance defended quickly. But Keith was side-eyeing him and Lance knew he needed to fess up. He took a breath and blew it out, deflating. “I’m sorry.” He said after a moment, “It’s just— you’re so… cool? And I just wanted to impress you, I guess. Or at least be kinda cool, too.”

“Lance,” Keith shook his head but there was something fond about the gesture, something fond in the delicate way he said Lance’s name. “You know that nobody is forcing me to be here, right?”

“I don’t know, Shiro might be twisting your arm.” Lance joked.

It earned another chuckle from Keith. “Shiro does like to meddle, but I assure you he’s not why I’m here.”

The barista called Keith’s name and he stepped forward to collect their drinks, extending one out to Lance. Lance reached out to cup it in both of his hands, intending to absorb the heat from it, but his fingers grazed Keith’s in the process and suddenly the warmth he was feeling wasn’t related to the hot cocoa at all. 

“Why are you here, then?” Lance asked, and he hoped it didn’t sound accusatory. “Just to get out of work?”

“Believe it or not,” Keith took off towards the door, speaking over his shoulder as he went, moving slow enough that Lance was able to easily fall into step with him. “I happen to think  _ you _ are kinda cool and just thought it’d be good to get to know you. I see you around all the time.”

“Not,” Lance said, and then he laughed a little when Keith furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “You said believe it or not.” Lance clarified, and Keith rolled his eyes a little as realization dawned on him. “I’m choosing not.”

They exited the coffee shop and the cool air rushed around them all at once. Lance immediately pulled his cocoa closer to him, as if he could absorb the heat through his entire body. He had gloves tucked in his pockets that he’d take out later, once he had either finished his cocoa or it had cooled off enough that it didn’t warm him up.

The crowds outside were even larger than the crowds inside but they were able to seamlessly blend into the masses and begin heading down the sidewalk, pausing occasionally to glance in store windows or point out different decorations that caught their eyes. Keith smiled a lot more openly than Lance had ever seen him smile and it was torture on Lance’s heart. But the good kind of torture, the kind of pain that you wanted to experience. It hurt in a good way to see Keith staring back at him, colored lights reflecting in his eyes and smile on his lips. It was an image Lance wanted to burn into his mind for forever and a day.

“So,” Lance finally said, feeling a little more at ease. “Not much of a Christmas guy, huh?”

“I don’t have anything against the holiday,” Keith replied, sipping at his cocoa. “I just don’t really get excited for it like everyone else.”

“How is that possible, though?” Lance protested immediately, stepping closer to Keith. “How can you resist the magic in the air?”

Keith snorted, “Christmas magic, really?”

_ Yes _ , Lance wanted to say in response,  _ how else could you explain how I’m feeling right now? _ Because it had to be the magic of the season, it had to be the whimsy and allure of the Christmas lights, the contagious happiness of everyone around him. It  _ had _ to be those things that left his heart pitter-pattering in his chest, stuttering occasionally when Keith’s smile grew a little wistful as he looked at a particularly beautiful decoration.

“Yes!” Lance said simply, “it’s a real thing! And it’s  _ irresistible _ .”

“Oh, is that so?” Keith stopped at the crosswalk, tapping the button with the back of his hand. “Then how have I resisted it for so long?”

“You’re an alien?” Lance guessed good naturedly, “Or a robot? You don’t have a heart? No, how would you be alive if you didn’t have a heart?”

“Or,” Keith nudged him again and Lance tried not to notice the  _ zing _ down his arm. “It’s not as irresistible as you think.”

“No, no, it’s definitely not that.” Lance nodded in confirmation of his own statement and Keith chuckled again. Lance felt a warmth blooming in his chest. “It’s definitely one of the things I suggested. I’m never wrong, you know.”

The light switched and they were given the walk symbol. They took off with the rest of the crowd, shuffling forward to keep pace with those around them and almost losing themselves in the crowd. But, once they hit the sidewalk on the other side, they managed to drift back to each other, almost as if they were pulled together by some invisible force. Lance tried to stifle that thought as he stepped to the side to avoid a stranger and ended up pressing firmly against Keith, their arms touching from shoulder to elbow. 

It was only a brief moment of contact— just long enough for the stranger to pass and continue on their way— but it made Lance feel like his whole arm was alight. He almost felt like his soul was alight, like he might burn to the ground at this exact moment, only to be reborn from the ashes so he could burn down all over again.

They walked to the end of the block in silence, sipping on their drinks and just enjoying each other’s company. It wasn’t until the crossed another street, turning to head back to where they had begun that Lance finally broke the silence again.

“So,” He glanced at Keith out of the corner of his eye, noticing the way Keith had his full attention trained on Lance. “Tell me about you. I only know what Shiro has told me which is, obviously, only the embarrassing stuff.”

Keith groaned in response, “I would like to think you’re kidding, but I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“I am kidding,” Lance assured, before grinning crookedly at Keith. “Mostly.”

A shove was the response Lance got to that. He stumbled a step or two away, laughing, before recoiling right back to Keith’s side. Keith shook his head as Lance returned, trying to shoot him a glare but it fell flat because he was clearly trying to bite back the edges of a grin. 

“What do you want to know about me?” Keith asked once Lance had settled back in at his side.

Lance thought about this for a moment. “Your favorite… color?”

“Red,” Keith pointed up at his maroon beanie as he responded as if to demonstrate his point.

“Animal?” Lance continued.

“Dogs,” Keith pulled out his phone, illuminating the screen and showing off his background which was a picture of what Lance could only assume was his dog.

“Hm,” Lance continued to think. “What’s your… third favorite dessert?”

“What—?” Keith paused in his walking for a moment, “My  _ third _ favorite dessert?”

Lance nodded, “My niece always asks me questions like this. She tells me it’s how you  _ really _ get to know people.”

“It’s cute coming from her,” Keith picked his pace back up.

“And it’s cute coming from me, too,” Lance retorted, laughing a little to himself. It occurred to him then that he was feeling comfortable around Keith. All the pressure, the image of what he had built this up to be in his mind, it had all faded away. And now it was just the two of them, drinking hot cocoa and wandering around town, chatting easily. It was the kind of night Lance had hoped it would be.

“Whatever you say,” Keith replied, his eyebrows scrunched up as he tried to think of an answer. “Apple pie, I think. I don’t know, that’s hard. I don’t usually rank past number one.”

“Well there’s your problem, buddy!”

“Okay, what’s  _ your _ third favorite dessert?” Keith tossed the question back at Lance, letting out a sigh when Lance was able to answer immediately.

“Lemon bars, of course.”

“Right, how silly of me.” Keith tossed his empty cup into a garbage can as they passed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket now that they were free.

“Honestly, so silly.” Lance drained the last sip from his own cup before tossing it into the garbage can as well.

All around them, the city had gotten dark. The lights twinkled even more brightly in the dark, illuminating the city and creating a sort of glow in the air. Lance turned to look at Keith then, his breath  _ whooshing _ out of his lungs as he did so. The lights created a sort of halo effect, making Keith’s edges look fuzzy, as if he were blurring into the background, becoming one with the beauty of the city. He looked ethereal with his bangs falling in his eyes and the brilliant blue lights of one of the buildings behind him.

Vaguely, Lance was aware that their night should be winding down. They’d spent more than an hour, certainly, wandering around town and just chatting. Keith was looking back at him with an expression that could only be described as fond. A stranger pushed past Keith, causing him to stumble forward into Lance who put his hands out to catch Keith by the shoulders before they collided completely. Keith drew his hands out of his pockets and pressed them to Lance’s chest at the same time, stopping himself from going any further.

Lance looked down at Keith. At Keith who was only a few inches away. At Keith who, as it turned out, had really long eyelashes that framed his eyes nicely.

Keith was looking back up at Lance, his lips parted as if he were about to say something but the words died on his tongue.

“We should, ah—” Lance stumbled over his words, knowing he should take his hands off of Keith’s shoulders but not wanting to. “We should probably go.”

“Right,” Keith agreed, hastily stepping back and shoving his hands back into his pockets. He turned to cross the street again, acting like nothing had ever happened. Lance hoped that he appeared that collected— that nobody could tell his heart was thundering away in his chest, that he could still feel the exact outline of where Keith’s hands had been. “How are you getting home?”

“The bus,” Lance answered and his voice only sounded a  _ little  _ unsteady, which he counted as a win.

“I could give you a ride,” Keith offered as they closed the last of the gap between them and Keith’s bike. “If you want, of course.”

“I—” Lance swallowed, jamming his hands into his pockets so that nobody would be able to see them tremble. “Are you sure? It’s not out of the way?”

“We both live on campus, right? How out of the way can it be, campus isn’t that big.” Keith was pulling the key out of his pocket and using it to unlock his helmet. Lance watched his actions, realizing for the first time that there was a second helmet hanging there. “I brought a helmet in case you said yes. No pressure, though.”

_ Breathe _ , Lance reminded himself. Just breathe. In and out. If he dies now, he’ll never get to ride on Keith’s bike. If he’s going to die, at least let it be while he’s  _ on _ the bike, pressed up to Keith’s back, arms wrapped tightly around him.

“Yeah that’d— I’d love a ride,” Lance closed his eyes, mentally cursing himself for stumbling like that. “That’d be great,” He tried to amend, but it didn’t really make it any better. “Thank you.”

Keith nodded in response, handing one of the helmets over to Lance. Lance slid it on his head immediately, hoping that it would cover the red of his cheeks. He could feel himself flushing and he knew it was too much to blame on the cold air, so he needed a way to hide it. He fumbled with the strap under his chin, not quite sure of what he was supposed to be doing. Keith ditched his beanie, shoving it back in his pocket, before smoothly donning his helmet and tightening the strap under his chin.

After that, he turned to look at Lance who was still struggling with his own strap. Gently, Keith pushed Lance’s hands out of the way, taking the strap and the clasp into his own hand and gently guiding it through correctly. Lance could feel Keith’s hands brush against his throat occasionally, warm and gentle as they made quick work of the strap. Lance was immediately thankful for the helmet because he was  _ red _ now, he was certain of it.

“Thanks,” He said, worried Keith might not be able to hear it through the helmet. Keith nodded, though, easing Lance’s worry.

“Your feet go there,” Keith pointed to pegs sticking off the back of the bike, “And you have to hold on tight. When we turn, just lean with the bike, don’t fight it, okay?”

“Okay,” Lance nodded. He wanted to say something else but he didn’t know what and it was probably a good thing because his throat was feeling tight and he considered the possibility that he might not have a voice if he tried to say more.

Keith eyed him for just a moment longer before slipping gloves onto his hands and throwing a leg over the bike, leveling it out and knocking the kickstand back up into place. He gripped both of the handlebars and settled himself into place before looking at Lance over his shoulder and nodding for Lance to get on. Lance took one long, deep breath before approaching the bike. He steadied a hand on Keith’s shoulder, the other pressing against the empty passenger seat of the bike as he stepped one foot up onto the peg and threw his other leg across the bike so he was straddling it.

It only took a moment for him to settle into place and wrap his arms tightly around Keith’s torso, just below his ribs. “Is this okay?” He asked as loudly as he could.

Keith nodded, pressing a hand over Lance’s conjoined hands to encourage him to hold on tighter. Lance did as he was instructed, pulling himself flush against Keith’s back as Keith twisted the key and the engine roared to life. The blood was pulsing in Lance’s ears and his heart was thundering so fast he was certain it’d be able to keep pace with them on the bike— it might even be able to outrun them.

“Ready?” Keith yelled over the roaring engine, already adjusting the handlebars so the bike was angled towards the street.

“Ready,” Lance confirmed, even if he wasn’t sure it was strictly true.

Still, it was all Keith needed. He revved the engine a moment before lifting his feet off the ground and taking off into the street. Lance lurched back, instinctively gripping harder onto Keith as they went. It only took a minute for them to get out of the downtown area and then Keith really floored it and the bike took  _ off _ . Lance had to lean into Keith, to really press his chest firm against Keith’s back to stop himself from being thrown back, but he didn’t care. The wind whipped at his clothes, catching the edges of his scarf and making them dance. 

Part of him wanted to whoop and holler, but the rest of him was just too awed to even consider it. Lance looked around at the world as it flew by, the lights blurring. It was even more beautiful than it had been before, and he wondered how much of that was just because of his proximity to Keith. As they continued to race down the streets, Lance noticed their shadow on the ground next to them, keeping pace with them as they went. He looked at it closely, looked at the way their two figures seemed to blend and merge into one. It made his heart swell a little, although he’d never say it.

The ride back to Lance’s dorm was much shorter than he wanted it to be, but he would never complain because he’d been intending to take the bus home. Lance waited until Keith had turned the bike off and tapped his knee— his signal that it was safe for Lance to move— before dismounting. Getting off the bike was a little less graceful than getting on the bike had been, but Lance didn’t end up on his ass so he counted it as a win.

“That,” He said as he took his helmet off and handed it back to Keith, “was really cool. Like,  _ really _ cool.”

Keith laughed, pulling his own helmet off. He didn’t dismount from the bike, but he did meet Lance’s gaze head on. His hair was messy, the longer pieces wind whipped and wild, but it worked on him. 

“Yeah?” He prompted.

“If you’re ever, I don’t know, looking for a passenger again…” Lance joked, “You have my number.”

“What are you doing tomorrow?” Keith asked in response and he almost looked surprised at himself.

“I’m going sledding with my niece and nephew,” Lance answered, trying not to notice the fluttering in his chest. God, how many times was he going to have to ignore his heart going wild? “Why, what are you doing?”

“Nothing,” Keith wasn’t looking at Lance and it was almost endearing, “I was going to offer to take you for a ride tomorrow night. A longer one than this, I mean.”

“Well,” Lance leaned down a little to catch Keith’s eye, “Now you  _ do  _ have plans tomorrow. You’re coming sledding with us! And if we have extra time, we can talk about that ride.”

Keith furrowed his brows, “I am?”

“You sure are!” Lance poked a finger into his chest playfully, “How else am I going to get you to admit there’s Christmas magic? You’re absolutely coming tomorrow, I won’t hear any argument.”

A moment of hesitation was all Keith gave before he smiled at Lance, “I’m not going to argue. I think it’d be fun.” A breeze blew through then, whipping Keith’s hair into his face. He reached up to tuck the strands of it behind his ear and Lance froze in his spot as he watched. It took a moment for Keith to get all the stray pieces safely tucked away, but he did and then he looked up at Lance. “What time?”

“Oh, uh,” Lance shook his head briefly, “We were thinking around one?”

“Perfect,” Keith smiled at him and even though it wasn’t the first smile Lance had received tonight, it was perhaps the most special. There was something about it that was a little more intimate, something about it that held an anxious sort of excitement. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

“Yeah,” Lance nodded, taking a few steps away from the curb so Keith could get ready to leave again. “Ride home safe, okay? Let me know when you make it back in one piece?”

“Sure, mom.” Keith joked, pulling his helmet over his head. Lance rolled his eyes, shaking his head and turning a cold shoulder to Keith. Keith revved up his engine again, tucking the helmet Lance had been wearing away safely. Just before he took off, he opened the visor of his helmet, yelling, “I had fun tonight, Lance!”

And then, before Lance could say anything back, he took off, and Lance was left to grin dumbly to himself as he finally headed inside and up to his dorm for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

For once, packing the kids up in the car wasn’t a huge hassle. They were so excited to go sledding that they got in the car without argument, sitting nicely while Lance strapped them into their seats and then began loading the trunk. Marco helped as much as he could, thanking Lance for taking them over and over again. Lance assured him that he was happy to do it and that the invitation for Marco and his wife to join still stood, but Marco had insisted that he had other things to do. So, Lance promised to have the kids back by dinner, hopped in the drivers seat and took off. 

They were only a few minutes into the drive when Sylvio sat up straighter in his seat, craning his neck to look out the window. “Uncle Lance, the sledding hill isn’t this way!”

It never ceased to amaze Lance how observant the two of them were. They were constantly saying and recognizing things that Lance would never in a million years expect them to be able to remember. “I know, but I have a friend joining us and we need to go pick him up first.”

“Is he a cool friend?” Nadia asked, leaning forward in her seat with a large grin. “Are we going to like him?”

“As a matter of fact,” Lance said confidently, glancing at the two of them in his rearview mirror, “He’s very cool. And I think you’re both going to like him a lot.”

“I’ll be the judge of that!” Sylvio declared, sitting back in his seat.

Lance laughed to himself as he turned onto the campus, slowing down to a reasonable speed. He weaved his way along the campus roads easily, knowing exactly how to get to Keith. All he had to do was ask Keith for his building name and immediately he’d known how to get there. Honestly, Keith was maybe a five minute drive from where Lance lived which probably explained why Lance passed him so frequently on campus. 

He slowed and then stopped just outside of Keith’s building, immediately reaching for his phone which he stored in the cupholder while he drove. He was just about to unlock it, ready to send Keith a text to let him know that he was there when the doors to the building opened and Keith came waltzing out, same maroon beanie on his head as the night before. He did, however, swap his leather jacket for a puffy coat which looked both warmer and more suited for the snow they were about to be rolling around in.

Lance’s heart skipped a beat when Keith approached the car easily, climbing right on in as if he did this sort of thing every day.

Lance would like him to do this sort of thing every day.

“Hey,” He said instead, trying to cut off his own train of thought.

“Hi,” Keith ducked into the car, pulling the door shut behind him. He turned around once he was in to look at Nadia and Sylvio in the back seat, greeting both of them with a warm smile. “Hello!”

Nadia was scrutinizing him, taking in his appearance with a serious expression on her face. Lance was just about to open his mouth and chastise her for being rude when she nodded curtly, as if in approval, and looked at Lance, “You’re right, he is cool.”

Next to him, Keith burst out laughing, turning towards the window to try and pretend that it wasn’t happening. Not that there was any way to disguise his shaking shoulders or the way he was doubled over into his own lap. Lance could feel his cheeks heating up, probably getting ten shades darker as Keith continued to laugh.

“I agree,” Sylvio piped up after a minute. “He can stay.”

“Well gee, aren’t you guys generous,” Lance murmured as he backed out of the parking spot he had taken, throwing a hand over the back of the passenger seat so he could turn around and look out the back window more easily. 

He could feel Nadia’s gaze on his face and did his best to keep a neutral expression as he reversed out into the road. Once he was out far enough, he turned back around, sparing a momentary glance at Keith who was still staring steadfastly out the window, fighting— and losing— against a grin. At least he wasn’t outright laughing anymore. 

Lance wanted to sigh or to shrivel up in a ball and die. When he’d woken up this morning, he’d taken a long time to convince himself that last night had actually happened, that he’d actually ridden on the back of a motorcycle with Keith Kogane, their bodies pressed so close together that their shadow looked like one solid unit instead of two. Honestly, it could have been a dream that Keith bought him hot chocolate and then walked around with him, their shoulders brushing occasionally. 

It wasn’t a dream Lance had ever had before, but it was a dream he could definitely imagine himself having.

But he’d woken up and his conversation with Keith was still in his phone, including the text from Keith when he’d arrived home safely and the last one of the night that simply read ‘ _ sleep well _ ’. Lance’s heart had nearly leapt out of his chest all over again when he’d read it. He’d considered taking a screenshot of it to send to Hunk (or just to have forever, it could go either way), but he decided against it. He was still avoiding telling Hunk about the entire situation.

He could already imagine the meaningful looks and hear the long winded lectures Hunk was going to give him about how that hot cocoa wasn’t  _ just  _ hot cocoa and how there was a hidden meaning behind everything Keith did. Because Hunk, as wonderful and caring as he was, always read a little  _ too  _ into situations. He had spent the last few months insisting that he saw lingering looks from Keith, or that Keith had changed his route to cross paths with them more often. He was adamant that there was something between them, no matter how many times Lance insisted otherwise. 

So Lance could only imagine the kind of field day he would have with this— taking Keith sledding with his niece and nephew? Honestly, Hunk would be jumping through the roof with excitement if he knew. 

Lance had been so lost in this thought while he drove that he hadn’t noticed right away that both Nadia and Sylvio had begun to sing along to the music on the radio. The sound of it drew him back to the present and he glanced at them again in the rearview mirror, not even trying to hide the smile that tilted up the corners of his lips. A feeling of love swelled inside him, growing and blooming until the petals filled every available inch of him. 

Keith was looking over his shoulder at them, too, turned halfway in the passenger seat to get a better view. When Lance glanced at him, Keith met his eyes, a distinct sparkle in his gaze.

“I don’t have any siblings,” he said, as if reading the question Lance hadn’t asked. “I mean, I have Shiro, but he’s not technically my brother. So I’ll never get nieces or nephews. Until this moment, I didn’t know what this was like.”

“Well, Lance said, raising his voice loud enough to ensure that Nadia and Sylvio both heard him, “You’re welcome to borrow these two any time. Honestly, I’ll pay you to take them off my hands.”

“Uncle Lance!” The two of them chimed in unison, Sylvio kicking the back of Lance’s chair in response.

Lance laughed, reaching a hand around to smack playfully at Sylvio’s ankle as they came to a stop at a light. “Really though, they’re the best. And I’m definitely not biased in saying that.”

“No, definitely not.” Keith agreed. He settled back into his seat properly, directing his attention back out the windshield. When Lance remained distracted, glancing between him and the kids in the backseat, Keith reached over and gave his knee a squeeze to indicate that the light was green and it was time for Lance to go.

The rest of the drive was filled mostly with the kids singing. Keith continued to smile a small, intimate smile down into his lap while Lance did his best to focus on the road and only the road. His heart felt full as he pulled into the parking lot of the favorite sledding hill. Once again he was reminded why he stayed so close to home for school.

Nadia and Sylvio continued to behave and Lance unbuckled them and helped them get out of the car. Keith unloaded the trunk, entrusting each of the kids with one of the sleds to carry on their own. Nadia practically squealed in delight, taking off ahead of them but never going so far as to stray from their line of sight. Sylvio stayed closer, but still a few steps ahead, as they stepped into the deep snow and began to walk to the top of the hill.

The hill they chose to sled on was less of a well-known thing. There were a few hills in town that were wildly popular and no doubt packed to the brim with sledders after the snowstorm they’d gotten over the weekend. The hill Lance had taken everyone to, though, was simply part of a golf course. It wasn’t well known because most people didn’t think about going to golf courses during the off season, which meant that they had the entire hill to themselves. 

By the time Lance reached the top of the hill, Keith in step with him practically the entire way, Nadia was already climbing onto her sled, ready to take off down the hill. Lance hustled the last few feet to the top, making sure to check that her path was clear before giving her the okay to go down. He looked all around and confirmed, as expected, that they were the only ones there.

“Go ahead,” He said as he set his own sled down. “but be  _ careful _ .”

Nadia didn’t need to be told twice. Before he even finished telling her to be careful she was already kicking off, pushing a few times with her feet to gain enough momentum. And then she was drawing her legs up and in, screaming as she sped down the hill, coasting all the way to a stop once the hill leveled out at the bottom. Sylvio was only a few seconds behind her, but he was distinctly more quiet as he went down. Still, as they climbed back up after, the grins were clearly visible on their faces.

“That… was… awesome.” Sylvio panted as he reached the top, dropping his sled back down so he could mount it again. 

Lance plopped down in the snow next to his sled, grateful that he had managed to find his snow pants before leaving the house this morning. A moment later, Keith surprised Lance by dropping down next to him, so close that their knees bumped in the process. Lance glanced over at him, noting the way the cold was biting at his cheeks and the tip of his nose, giving them a pink tint. It was stupidly endearing and Lance had to make himself look away before he said something about it.

Nadia and Sylvio had already gone down the hill again, climbing back up a second time. It seemed like they were perfectly fine, capable of managing their sleds on their own and thoroughly entertained without Lance interfering. So, he turned to Keith, a grin creeping onto his lips.

“You up for a race, Kogane?” He challenged.

Keith met his gaze head on, a small grin of his own, “You ready to lose?”

“Them’s fightin’ words,” Lance said, shoving Keith to the side so he toppled over into the snow and jumping to his feet, snagging his sled off the ground next to him.

Keith let out an indignant sound as he scrambled to his feet, but Lance was already two steps ahead of him, diving on his sled as he reached the peak of the hill and holding on for dear life. Keith followed suit, jumping on his sled without bothering to align himself properly first and the two of them bumped down the hill together. Neither had particularly good control of their sleds and they picked up too much speed to be able to stop on their own, causing them to crash into each other on the bottom, both rolling off of their sleds and landing in heaps a few feet away.

A moment passed and then suddenly Lance was laughing, just dissolving in laughter to the point that he almost couldn’t get his breath in. Keith, next to him, was able to resist the urge for a few moments but ultimately succumbed, laughing himself as he straightened up and dusted some of the snow off of his shoulders.

“I won,” Keith said after a moment.

Lance tried to control his laughter enough to be able to respond. “Excuse me? I definitely got down here first.”

“I’m further down than you are,” Keith retorted immediately, gesturing to his location.

It was true— he had been thrown further off his sled than Lance had been, but that wasn’t what mattered. In the competition, what mattered was who reached the bottom first. But in the grand scheme of things, the only thing that actually mattered was that they were having fun. Lance certainly was, his lungs burning as he tried to suck in cold air to catch his breath again. Keith looked like he was having a good time too as he continued to clean the snow off of himself. 

“You cheated,” Lance finally managed to choke out. “you used me and my sled to get further ahead.”

“Nobody ever said that was against the rules,” Keith pointed out, a smug look settling onto his features.

Lance pushed himself up finally, beginning to dust himself off, We never set any rules!”

“Exactly,” Keith pointed a finger through the air at Lance, “That’s exactly my point! With no rules, you can’t disqualify me, so I win.”

“Say what you want, Kogane,” Lance stood up and extended a hand to Keith, hauling him to his feet once he accepted it. “But I’ll always know that you’re a filthy cheater.”

Behind them, Lance could still hear Nadia and Sylvio going down the hill, hollering in excitement and bickering with each other as they did. Lance reached for his sled, grabbing the rope and beginning to haul it back up the hill. Keith scrambled to grab his own sled, immediately chasing Lance up the hill and falling into step with him.

“Somehow,” He continued as if their conversation had never lagged. Lance liked that about him, that he didn’t make things awkward. Not that Lance knew him well or had known him for long, because neither of those things were the case, but so far Keith had never put any expectations on Lance. He’d never sought out explanations for why Lance was quiet, why he didn’t respond. He instead just forged on, carrying the weight of the conversation himself if he had to but never acting like it was a burden,. “I’m confident I’ll be able to sleep well tonight.”

“You’re such a jerk,” Lance remarked, but it had no bite to it. It was clearly meant to be good-natured and the smile that Keith shot him in return indicated that he understood that.

“Really? I thought I was cool,” Keith sped up, beating Lance to the top of the hill and turning to gloat at him. “Remember? You told me I was cool. So did those two,” He gestured to Nadia and Sylvio who were making their own way up the hill. “So I’m pretty sure you meant to say that I’m such a  _ cool guy _ .”

“You,” Lance jutted a finger playfully into Keith’s chest. He knew his cheeks were filled with color but it didn’t bother him because Keith was smiling back at him. challenging him a little with his eyes and Lance wasn’t about to give in. Clearly it wasn’t something to be ashamed of, that he thought Keith was cool. In fact, it seemed to be making Keith’s day entirely and Lance couldn’t be mad about that. “Are the absolute worst. I mean it.”

Keith hummed in response, pretending to consider Lance’s words before laughing a little to himself. He shook his head but there was amusement in his eyes and Lance was, once again, struck with sheer awe that he was actively living in this moment. It was definitely Christmas Magic at work.

“Uncle Lance! Go down with me!” Sylvio tugged on Lance’s sleeve as he made it to the top of the hill.

“Fine but I get Keith!” Nadia cried, darting past Lance to latch onto Keith’s hand.

Lance was just about to address Keith, to assure him that he didn’t need to sled with Nadia if he didn’t want to or feel comfortable, but the words died on his tongue. Keith had already crouched down, pulling the sled up next to them. He had one hand holding the sled and the other holding Nadia’s to help stabilize her as she climbed onto the sled and plopped down at the front. And then, carefully, Keith climbed on behind her, pulling her up into his lap so that way he could hold carefully onto her. Lance was an absolute puddle on the ground, watching as Keith helped her grab onto the rope so that she could feel like she was steering. 

And then both Nadia and Keith looked back at him at the same time and Lance was frozen in place. It had to be the single sweetest thing he’d ever witnessed in his life and he wanted nothing more than to remember this moment forever. His heart ached in his chest, like it was suddenly growing too big to remain within his ribcage. His heart ached and  _ yearned _ and he realized in that moment that he was probably wrong— he  _ did _ have a crush on Keith.

A crush on Keith Kogane. On Keith who was staring back at him, snow in the tips of his hair and grin on his lips as he leaned down to whisper in Nadia’s ear. On Keith, who had accepted Nadia and Sylvio without any hesitation and who was surprisingly good with kids. For someone who hated being a mall elf, he certainly didn’t seem to hate his lot in life at the moment. 

And  _ holy shit _ Lance had a huge crush on him.

Sylvio tugged on his sleeve again and Lance was finally able to snap his eyes away from Keith and Nadia. He crouched down, too, repeating exactly what Keith had done to help Sylvio get settled on the sled. Once Sylvio was comfortable in Lance’s lap, leaning back into his chest and grinning wide, Lance turned to look at the others again.

“You two waiting for a race?” He asked, noticing that they hadn’t taken off down the hill yet.

“You bet!” Keith replied hastily stopping… whatever he’d been doing that Lance couldn’t quite see. Nadia giggled, folding her hands properly in her lap.

Lance gave them a skeptical look, glancing down at Sylvio who seemed equally suspicious of their activities. “Well, then. Prepare to lose.” Keith was just about to open his mouth when Lance cut him off, yelling “GO!” and pushing off from the top of the hill.

Sylvio dissolved into giggles in his lap as Lance continued to push with his hands until they crested the hill and gravity took over for them. Keith and Nadia were close behind, Keith pushing even on the hill to help them gain the speed they needed to catch up. And then, once they were nearly neck-in-neck, Lance found out exactly what suspicious thing they had been doing.

A snowball pegged him in the side of the head and Lance whipped around to see Nadia holding a collection of them in her lap. Keith was reaching over her, snagging one from her lap and lobbing it at Lance, who cried out and tried to knock it out of the air. The motion threw him and Sylvio off balance and Lance had to scramble quickly to stop them from tipping over again. Sylvio whooped in his lap, laughing out loud as they swerved and then managed to pull it together and continue straight down the hill. The snowballs resumed flying once they were steady again and Lance couldn’t do anything other than take the hits until the sled came to a complete stop.

As soon as it did, he and Sylvio were both scooping up fistfuls of snow and tossing them back at Keith and Nadia who were coming to a stop just next to them.

“We won the race! And now we’re going to win the—” Lance’s declaration was cut short by a snowball hitting him square in the face. He spluttered, wiping snow off while Keith laughed uproariously from just a few feet away. 

Instead of retaliating with another snowball, Lance dove across the space between them, tackling Keith to the ground. Sylvio had slid off Lance’s lap as soon as they’d stopped— no doubt trying to escape the snowballs— and run off to try and hide behind one of the trees in the distance and Nadia had hopped right off of Keith’s lap to chase him. Keith hit the snow with an  _ oof _ his laughter not dying down as much as Lance had wanted it to. Lance hovered over him for a moment, barely feeling triumphant before Keith took an entire handful of snow and shoved it in Lance’s face.

Lance made an indignant noise, scooping up snow of his own and dropping onto Keith who barely managed to cover his face with his gloved hands. Lance could feel Keith shaking with laughter underneath him, his own laughter bubbling up and out of his chest. He felt content, listening to his niece and nephew laugh and squeal as they chased each other around. He felt content, here in this moment with the two of them and Keith. And as he sat there, legs straddling Keith’s hips and hands full of snow poised just above Keith’s head, ready to drop it at any moment, he realized that he wouldn’t change a single thing about this moment, even if he could.

“Admit I won,” Lance goaded, leaning a little closer to Keith. “Admit it or it’s another face full of snow for you, Kogane!”

“I’m not afraid of some snow!” Keith cried, but he didn’t move his hands away from his face and he  _ did _ squirm underneath Lance when he dropped the snow.

As Lance scrambled to pick up more snow, Keith struck. He gripped Lance by the hips and flipped them over, successfully pinning Lance to the ground, Keith’s hands holding Lance’s wrists down at his sides. They stared at each other for a long moment, Keith grinning and Lance in open-mouthed wonder. Keith’s cheeks were flushed above him. the longer pieces of his hair dangling down into the space between the two of them, soaking wet. His hat wasn’t on straight anymore and it looked so silly that Lance could feel his expression twisting into a smile of his own.

Keith leaned a little closer and then closer still— so close that the damp ends of his hair were just ghosting across Lance’s cheeks, leaving a tickling sensation in their wake. “Fine,” Keith breathed and the word was so intimate that Lance wanted to combust. “You win.”

And then, just like that, Keith flipped onto his back next to Lance and Lance was left to stare up at the brilliantly bright sky and try and stabilize his heartbeat and his breathing. Neither attempt was particularly successful. He felt like his heart was running a race of its own in his chest and there was nothing he could do to stop it. 

They stayed like that, side by side in the snow for a good few minutes before Lance finally felt composed enough to sit up and call the kids back to them. The two of them came running. crashing into Lance and tackling him back into the snow again. He laughed as they rolled around with him, his heart swelling when Sylvio drew Keith into their Dogpile and Keith came willingly. And so the four of them rolled around in the snow, making snow angels, laughing and just enjoying each other’s company to the fullest. Lance wasn’t sure his heart had ever felt fuller in his life.

And then, when they were finally done and the kids were loaded into the car, both falling asleep in their seats on the drive back, Lance was  _ absolutely  _ sure that he’d never felt more content in his life. When Keith glanced over his shoulder, his eyes and smile both softening as he saw the two of them dozing, Lance wondered if he’d ever be this content again.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Lance stays in bed late.

It is one of the perks of being on Christmas vacation, after all. And he’d had an eventful few days, running all over the city. 

So, he stayed in bed for a few hours after he woke up, flipping through apps on his phone and just enjoying the time to relax. Being a TA meant that he had a lot of work to do on the side of his regular schoolwork. Shiro was a great person to TA for— and a great person in general, really— because he did his best to ease Lance’s burden. He knew Lance’s schedule, knew when his classes were giving tests and would take on the majority of the grading on those days. Still, Lance didn’t like him to do that because Shiro was newly married and deserved to be at home with his husband. The one reason that Lance didn’t feel  _ too _ bad, though, is that Shiro’s husband Adam is also a professor at this university— a science professor to match Shiro’s English teachings— so he often had his own grading to do.

Still, the other nice thing about break was that neither Shiro nor Lance had any additional work to do. And, since their school only put one person in each dorm room, Lance could literally lay in bed all day long without anyone disturbing him. And that’s exactly what he planned on doing.

Lance was just flipping onto his back, the covers sliding off his shoulders in the process, when his phone vibrated in his hand. The text scrolled across the top of the screen and Lance rolled his eyes before he even opened the thing.

_ [Big Boss Shiro 10:48am] _

_ How were your dates? _

_ [Lance McClain 10:49am] _

_ If I had been on any dates lately, I’d be happy to tell you. _

Immediately the little symbol popped up to indicate that Shiro was typing back so Lance didn’t even bother to click out of his messages. He just waited, already able to predict Shiro’s response.

_ [Big Boss Shiro 10:51am] _

_ A romantic walk downtown and family activities don’t count as dates? _

Lance glanced around his room, despite the fact that he was absolutely certain he was alone, afraid that someone might be glancing over his shoulder and reading the texts. It was a ridiculous notion and he knew that, but it felt like they were discussing something intimate, something that he had previously been hiding in the depths of his heart and it made him feel vulnerable.

_ [Lance McClain 10:53am] _

_ I see you’ve been talking to Keith. _

_ [Big Boss Shiro 10:54am] _

_ You mean listening to Keith gush about you? Yeah, I have been. _

Lance actually snorted out loud at Shiro’s text, typing away rapidly on the screen.

_ [Lance McClai 10:54am] _

_ You can’t convince me that Keith has ever gushed about anything in his life. The guy’s not a gusher. _

The typing bubble popped up and disappeared a few times before Shiro finally responded.

_ [Big Boss Shiro 10:59am] _

_ Okay, fine, he doesn’t gush. But he did have fun with you. _

_ [Lance McClain 11:01am]  _

_ It’s impossible not to have fun with me. _

He knew that he was never going to hear the end of that text, but it didn’t matter. He could handle whatever teasing Shiro was going to throw his way. After all, Lance had plenty of siblings. He was no stranger to being teased for any number of things. Plus, Shiro was one of Lance’s closest friends, despite the fact that Shiro was also his boss.

_ [Big Boss Shiro 11:04am] _

_ So when’s the next date? _

As much as Lance didn’t want to acknowledge Shiro’s question, he couldn’t help but wonder the same thing. Not that their last encounters had been a date because they definitely  _ hadn’t  _ been. Not even remotely date-like. But Lance  _ did _ like hanging out with Keith, and he was absolutely down to do it again. But they weren’t dates and, as far as Lance knew, Keith didn’t have any more shifts at the mall to try and avoid. So, despite the fact that it made Lance feel like his heart was sinking down to his feet, ready to be stepped on, he didn’t think they had any future plans together. It had been a fun— and wildly surprising— two days, two days that Lance would remember for his whole life, he was certain. But, that was most likely it. Just two days.

_ [Lance McClain 11:10am] _

_ Don’t you have a husband to bother? You bother me enough during the week, share some love with Adam! _

He knew Shiro would laugh at that, shaking his head fondly. He’d probably even show it to Adam who would insist that he could continue bothering Lance. Lance had met Adam a few times and he loved him both as a person and as Shiro’s counterpart. He did a great job of keeping Shiro in his place while simultaneously encouraging and supporting him. He always laughed with Shiro (and sometimes at him). They just— they fit together like two puzzle pieces and seeing them together made Lance happy.

His phone buzzed again and Lance glanced at the screen, surprised to see that there wasn’t a new text from Shiro. Curious, he backed out of his conversation with Shiro and froze in surprise when he saw the new text at the top of his inbox.

_ [Keith Kogane 11:14am] _

_ You free today? _

Lance read the message and then he read it again. And then he put his phone down for a second and stared at the ceiling before picking it back up and reading it for a third time. The first thought to pop into his mind was that Shiro had done this, that Shiro had been texting and encouraging Keith the same way he’d been trying to do it to Lance. Shiro had made no secret to Lance that he was trying to set the two of them up, but he had no idea what Shiro had or had not said to Keith. He didn’t have the foggiest idea if Keith knew that Shiro wanted them to end up together.

_ [Lance McClain 11:19am] _

_ That depends what you need. I do have a hot date with my bed today, but I might be willing to postpone that for you. _

It was a little strong, a little bold, but Lance felt okay with it. He and Keith had really been hitting it off the last couple of days and so Lance felt like he could be a little more of himself.

_ [Keith Kogane 11:20am] _

_ Well, as much as I hate to break up you and your bed, I could really use your help with something. _

There was no denying that Lance’s interest was piqued. He sat up fully in bed, his covers pooling around his waist and exposing his bare torso to the cold air of the room. He shivered as he typed his reply.

_ [Lance McClain 11:21am] _

_ Oh? How may I be of service? _

And then he paused for a second, biting the corner of his lip while he decided whether to follow that text up with another or not. After a few seconds he decided to throw caution to the wind and just send it. What harm could it really do, anyways?

_ And I don’t think you’re sorry to break us up. _

Keith’s reply was near immediate.

_ [Keith Kogane 11:22am] _

_ You’re right, I’m not sorry to break you up. I need you more than your bed does anyways. _

Lance swallowed against a suddenly dry throat, feeling like he was flushed all the way down to his chest as he waited for Keith to elaborate on what, exactly, he needed. Lance was positively glued to his phone, tapping the screen every time it started to dim so that he’d be certain to read Keith’s text the moment it appeared. A minute or so later, it came through and it was  _ not _ what Lance was expecting.

_ I need your help shopping for Christmas gifts. _

_ [Lance McClain 11:29am] _

_ …what? _

Of all the things Lance was expecting— and honestly he couldn’t even say what he had been expecting— this did not make the list. 

_ [Keith Kogane 11:34am] _

_ I never know what to get Shiro, but you know him really well too so I just thought…  _

_ idk, you can say no if you want to.  _

_ I was just hoping you’d come Christmas shopping with me and give me your opinion. _

_ We can shop for your family, too. _

The bubble to say that Keith was still typing was up and Lance couldn’t stifle a smile at the fact that Keith seemed… nervous.

_ [Lance McClain 11:40am] _

_ Keith, buddy, you don’t need to try and talk me into it. _

_ I’m happy to go with you man, it’s just not what I thought you’d say. _

The bubble popped up and then disappeared. And then it popped up again.

_ [Keith Kogane 11:42am] _

_ What did you think I was going to ask? _

The truth was, Lance didn’t know. He knew Keith better than he had a few days ago, that was for sure, but he still didn’t know Keith well. He’d love to change that, but at the moment he knew he stood in the ‘close acquaintance’ category of Keith’s life. So honestly, he didn’t have any idea what to expect from Keith. But for someone who said they hated Christmas and seemed far too cool and aloof to ever ask for help, this was unexpected. It made Lance feel a little bit special.

_ [Lance McClain 11:43am] _

_ I just didn’t expect a self-proclaimed Scrooge to do any Christmas shopping. _

_ [Keith Kogane 11:45am] _

_ I may not like Christmas that much but I don’t hate my friends and family, Lance. _

_ Believe it or not, I do have a bit of a heart, even if it’s black. _

Lance laughed out loud at Keith’s response, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes. His heart was fluttering in his chest again but it felt kind of nice. It made Lance feel weightless, like he could fly if he really tried to.

_ [Lance McClain 11:47am] _

_ Yeah, I’m gonna go with not on that one, buddy. _

_ [Keith Kogane 11:48am] _

_ Are you coming Christmas shopping with me or not? _

_ [Lance McClain 11:49am _ ]

_ Of course I am! Wouldn’t miss it for the world. When and where are we meeting? _

Finally Lance threw the covers off of his lap, sliding out of bed and padding from his bedroom into the bathroom, phone clutched in his hand the entire time. His heart stuttered in his chest when he felt his phone vibrate but he mustered all the self control he had and waited until he was in the bathroom and had turned the shower on before he looked at it.

_ [Keith Kogane 11:53am] _

_ I was thinking the mall. I can give you a ride if you want. _

A ride, huh? As far as Lance knew, Keith didn’t own a vehicle other than his motorcycle, but he was happy to ride on it again. Keith  _ had _ offered to take him on a ride yesterday but by the time they were home from sledding, Lance just wanted to get in his pajamas and crawl into bed so he’d taken a rain check.

_ [Lance McClain 11:54am] _

_ Sounds great. I’m about to hop in the shower but I’ll be good to go after that. _

_ [Keith Kogane 11:55am] _

_ Okay, I’ll leave in like 10 minutes to come get you? Or do you shower for eternity? _

Lance rolled his eyes as he headed back out of the bathroom and into his bedroom to gather clothes for after the shower. He was typing away on his phone the entire time, so familiar with the layout of his dorm that he didn’t need to pay attention to where he was going to navigate smoothly.

_ [Lance McClain 11:57am] _

_ First of all, I always look great and we both know it. _

_ Second of all, that’s fine. I’ll leave the door unlocked so you can just come in when you get here. _

True to his word, Lance moved from his bedroom into the main area, unlocking the door to his room before heading back into the bathroom and shutting that door behind him.

_ [Keith Kogane 12:00pm] _

_ Whatever you say _

_ See you in 10. _

With that settled, Lance flipped out of his messages and into his spotify app instead, turning on whatever song popped up first and discarding his clothes quickly. He showered as fast as he could, enjoying the warm water after being subjected to the cool air of his dorm. (Dorms, as he had learned, didn’t really have reliable heating or cooling so he was at the mercy of the seasons). Because of this, stepping out of the shower when he was done was a miserable experience, the cold air biting at his wet skin with no mercy. He wrapped up in a towel as quickly as he could, drying off his hair with a second towel and slipping into his boxers and jeans as fast as possible.

Just as he was finishing with that, he heard the door to his dorm open and shut behind him, so he pulled open his bathroom door so he could acknowledge Keith.

“Hey, Lance.” Keith called as he stepped cautiously into the dorm.

It took a moment for Lance to find his voice, but when he did, he was able to choke out a quiet, “Hey! I’m over this way.”

As Keith approached, Lance glanced back in the mirror to mess with his hair until it laid just perfectly. It was short enough that it was relatively easy to style but if it wanted to stick up every which way, it was certainly capable of that and sometimes that’s what it chose when it was towel dried. Luckily, it felt like agreeing today, and Lance was able to move on by the time Keith got to the bathroom door.

He stood in the doorway, shoulder jammed against the frame, arms crossed over his chest. His leather jacket was back, but this time he didn’t have any sort of hat on. His long bangs fell into his eyes and just barely grazed his cheeks, mingling in a few places with his long eyelashes. He had on a pair of tight jeans and boots that fit his personality so perfectly, Lance didn’t know what to do with himself. He tried not to stare, tried to not even look like he  _ wanted _ to stare, but he definitely did. Keith’s jacket was unzipped about halfway and Lance could see a glimpse of a red and black plaid flannel underneath. Suddenly he felt too hot, despite the fact that he still hadn’t put a shirt on.

“You don’t look ready to go,” Keith said, but his voice was a little quieter and he was looking at Lance’s face with a very determined expression. 

Lance crouched down, snagging his shirt off the ground and beginning to slip his arms through it as he responded. “I’m almost ready! I need, like, two minutes.”

With a slight roll of his eyes, Keith pressed off the door frame and turned his back to Lance, his shoulders looking a little tight. Which was something Lance could see easily because Keith’s leather jacket fit him to a T— perfectly tight and cut at all the right angles to really show off his figure. Keith trailed back towards the entry, pretending to huff dramatically as he went and Lance tossed his towel at Keith, laughing a little when it made contact with Keith’s back.

Still, Keith didn’t halt, instead just shaking his head as he finished his trek to the kitchen. Lance slid his shirt on finally, fixing his hair one last time in the mirror before running back to his room quickly to grab a pair of socks and his shoes. He hustled into the kitchen as quickly as he could after, hopping on one foot to pull his sock on as he went. Keith was lounging in one of the shitty chairs that Lance had at his kitchen table, one ankle propped over his other knee as he scrolled through his phone. 

He glanced up as Lance approached, looking distinctly unimpressed by Lance’s ministrations as he stumbled and just barely managed to land in the chair opposite of Keith. Lance tried to focus on what he was doing, tried not to think about the fact that Keith was sitting casually in his kitchen as if this was a normal thing. He tried not to think about how badly he wanted this to become a normal thing, how much he liked the view of Keith lounging in his dorm as if he belonged there. A part of Lance really did think that he  _ did  _ belong there.

“You alright there?” Keith asked, tucking his phone back into the pocket of his jacket.

“More than alright,” Lance responded as he finished pulling on his second shoe, “I’m ready to go!”

Keith eyed him warily for a moment longer, but there was no bite to it. Lance met his gaze head on, studying his expression. At a quick glance, Keith still looked unconcerned and aloof. But, as Lance looked closer, he realized that Keith’s real expression was in the little things— the ghost of a smile on the corners of his lips, the tiniest crinkle of his nose that indicated happiness. It made Lance wonder how many of Keith’s expressions he’d missed as time went by simply because he didn’t look close enough. Lance focused on him, wondering if Keith had been making these sort of expressions all along. Maybe Keith never was as cold as he came off, maybe he was always just gentle and quiet and Lance had misinterpreted it. The thought made him inexplicably sad.

“Can I ask you something?” Lance could feel himself being pulled away by these considerations, he could feel his train of thought racing along the tracks, unstoppable.

Keith still didn’t break their gaze, but the space between his eyebrows wrinkled a little in what Lance assumed was surprise. Or maybe confusion. He was too new at reading Keith’s expressions to be sure. “Sure?”

“You were so great with Nadia and Sylvio,” Lance began. The question had been eating away at him since the night before, but he hadn’t been sure how to broach the subject. It felt like a delicate question, like something he had to ask at exactly the right moment. And somehow, this felt like exactly the right moment. There was an openness in Keith’s eyes, a vulnerability that made Lance feel like he might answer. “But you seemed so put out at the mall. What gives? Why do you hate the mall job so much?”

There was a moment— just the briefest of seconds— where Lance thought Keith was going to shut him down and refuse to answer. He didn’t, though. Instead he blinked, glancing away and then lowering his eyes. But he still answered. “It has nothing to do with the kids at the mall. I love kids, and I love your niece and nephew especially. But the mall is crowded and everyone is yelling. The people there are so ungrateful and demanding and it’s just a frustrating situation. Plus, I’m not a Christmas guy, remember? Having to be outgoing and jolly all the time? I mean, does that really  _ seem _ like me?”

“Fair enough,” Lance conceded, standing from his chair and heading towards the front of his dorm. Keith followed suit. “But I want to thank you for yesterday. They adored you.”

“Like I said, I have a little bit of a heart,” Keith retorted, standing with his hand on the door handle as he watched Lance slide his arms into his jacket sleeves, only pausing to wind his scarf around his neck.

“And like  _ I _ said,” Lance smiled at him, bumping shoulders with him as Keith opened the door to allow Lance into the hallway, “I don’t believe you.”

Keith didn’t say anything in response to that. Instead, he waited patiently while Lance locked his door and then led him down the stairs and out to the front of the building where his bike was waiting on the sidewalk. Lance took a steadying breath, glancing around to see if anyone else was witnessing this. It felt like he needed some sort of validation— like he needed to know that other people could see him and Keith, too. 

Sure enough, a few people were bustling by, pausing and glancing at them as they went. A few people leaned in to whisper to each other but Lance didn’t care to know what they were saying, just seeing them whisper was all the confirmation Lance needed. Other people saw them, and other people clearly thought something was going on between them. He finally turned his attention back to Keith who was extending a helmet out to him. Lance took it, taking a moment to actually inspect the strap on the bottom so he’d be able to do it himself this time. And then, once he understood what he was supposed to be doing, he slipped the helmet on and secured the strap himself.

Keith checked the strap for him, just to be safe, and his fingers were still warm and gentle against the column of Lance’s neck. His fingers seemed to linger a little longer than was strictly necessary and Lance was fairly certain he was able to feel Lance’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed to try and maintain his cool.

And then, just as quickly, his fingers were gone and he was mounting the bike, glancing back at Lance once it was time for him to hop on too. Lance was able to climb aboard a bit more easily than he had been able to two nights before, settling himself into his seat with a level of finesse this time. He didn’t need guidance from Keith for where to hold— his hands instinctively settled on the soft part of Keith’s stomach (which wasn’t really soft at all, but Lance tried not to feel the tone underneath his fingertips), and his legs bracketed Keith’s hips, helping hold him firmly to Keith’s back as the bike took off. 

Riding through the busy streets of town all the way to the mall was a different experience. There were cars zooming by on either side of the bike and Lance couldn’t stop himself from tightening his grip on Keith a time or two. The bike moved fast but fluidly. It was clear to Lance that Keith was in absolute control and so he was able to relax into it after a little bit of time. Just like the last time, Lance found himself fascinated by their shadow, watching it dart across the ground alongside them, racing into the future ahead of it. And, just like the last time, the ride ended much sooner than Lance would’ve liked it to. Still, he climbed off the back of the bike like he was supposed to, removing his helmet and offering it to Keith when he indicated that he needed it. And then they were walking into the mall together, perfectly in step with each other, so close that their elbows brushed on occasion as they went.

The mall was filled to the brim and immediately Lance was thinking about what Keith had said about why hated working here. Lance scanned the crowds around them as they walked, dodging throngs of people and pausing occasionally to allow stubborn people who refused to walk in a single file line to pass. Even though Lance had a lot of holiday spirit, even though Lance loved Christmas and was typically a very cheerful person as it was, he thought that he might hate working here too. It did seem more about the stress and the pressure of it all as opposed to the magic. It seemed like the kind of environment that could, potentially dim someone’s Christmas Spirit.

And since Keith barely had any christmas spirit to speak of, Lance could see how it would ruin his completely.

Keith moved through the mall with a confidence that was unrivaled. He was an expert at weaving his way through the crowds, pausing every once in awhile to make sure he still had Lance in tow. And, on the rare moment that the crowds were too thick, he even reached out and gripped the sleeve of Lance’s jacket to tug him along and make sure that they didn’t get separated.

Finally they reached a book store and Keith ducked inside, dragging Lance along. Only when they were safely out of the crowd and even with each other did Keith let go of Lance, turning to face him. “You’re an English nerd like Shiro,” He began with absolutely no preamble. Lance could feel his eyebrows raising as a bemused smile twisted his lips. “And I want to get him some books for Christmas. I know he’s always looking for more to read.”

“An English nerd, huh? Well, I was hesitant about helping you, Kogane. But flattery gets you everywhere.” Lance bumped shoulders with Keith playfully. “Honestly though, I know just the books. He’s been talking about this series for awhile and just hasn’t bothered to go out and buy it for himself yet.”

Swiftly, Lance took charge, leading Keith through the bookstore. Keith wasn’t wrong, honestly. Lance  _ was _ an English nerd. That’s why he was as TA for the English professor, that’s why his major was English. He loved reading and writing and all of the things that came with it. So, he knew his way around the bookstore like the back of his hand. He’d been coming to this book store for years, and for things that weren’t even related to school. Whenever Lance felt overwhelmed, he liked to come to the shop. It made him feel a little more at ease, it lessened the weight he felt like he was carrying on his shoulders.

He had wandered through every aisle of this store at least a dozen times each, he could absolutely navigate it in his sleep. It was one of his favorite places in the world. Keith followed him quietly as he went, trailing a hand along the spines of the books when they weren’t being blocked by people. After a few moments, Lance skidded to a halt, Keith stopping abruptly too but not before bumping into Lance’s back.

“Ta-da!” Lance gestured to a series on the shelf across from them. A sign hung below the first book indicating that it was a staff pick. Lance hadn’t read the books yet either but Shiro had been talking about them for weeks. Honestly, if Shiro hadn’t made Lance promise not to get him a gift, Lance would be buying them for Shiro himself. So, he was happy to pass the idea along to Keith. “These are the ones! I’m certain he’s going to love them.”

Lance’s heart did a weird half-flip in his chest when Keith picked up all three books in the trilogy without any questions. He didn’t ask what they were about, didn’t ask how sure Lance was that this was the right gift. He simply picked up the books, cradled them in his arms and turned to head towards the counter to check out. He trusted Lance’s judgement unwaveringly and that, too, made Lance feel special. A little bit more special, in fact. He was slowly collecting reasons to feel special, letting them stack up one on top of the next and holding them tenderly against his heart.

Without hesitation, Keith weaved his way back towards the counter to check out. But Lance was, again, an English nerd and he couldn’t just walk out of a bookstore without lingering, looking at all the books and just holding a few of them in his hands. So he veered away from Keith, ditching down another aisle and plopping down onto the floor. One of his favorite books in the world was there, on the bottom shelf, waiting for him. So Lance withdrew it from the shelf and flipped it open in his lap, scanning the pages he already knew so well. 

Lance was so engrossed in reading that he honestly didn’t know how many minutes had passed by the time Keith found him again, dropping unceremoniously to the ground next to Lance, books purchased and in a bag in his hand. 

“Oh, sorry,” Lance closed the book in his lap and put it back on the shelf in front of him. “I didn’t mean to make you have to come find me.”

“It’s no problem,” Keith replied, “You can keep reading it if you want to.”

“No, no, that’s okay!” Lance hastily stood up, “Plus, I’ve already read it a bunch of times. It just makes me happy.”

Keith took a moment to stand up, staring long and hard at the book cover first. Finally, he hauled himself to his feet with a little help from Lance. “is there anything else you want to look at in here?”

“No, I’m good. Though if you have the time, I’d like to walk around the mall a bit. I don’t really have any good ideas for my brothers.” It was true— Lance’s brothers were nearly impossible to shop for. No matter how long and hard he thought, he could never quite come up with a good idea for them. They had everything they  _ needed _ and none of them were particularly into anything. “I just want to browse and see if anything sparks an idea.”

“Sure,” Keith agreed easily. “lead the way.”

So, Lance did. He left the bookstore with Keith in tow and headed back into the mall. They stayed on the edges of the crowd, closer to the shops so Lance was able to glance at all the displays. Unfortunately, nothing stood out to him. Well, that’s not entirely true. Nothing stood out to him in regards to his brothers.

But when Keith stopped in front of one of the shops to inspect the pocket knives, well… Lance made a mental note of which store and which knife. He would definitely be coming back later.


	5. Chapter 5

As anyone who loved their family as much as Lance did would do, Lance went home the next day, planning on just spending it at the house with his parents, siblings and the kids. They didn’t have any solid plans and that didn’t matter to Lance in the least, he just liked their company and uproarious laughter that filled the house when they were all together.

His mom was bustling about the kitchen, multiple pans running on the burners and an assortment of different foods in the oven. Lance could smell his favorite garlic knots from the moment he’d walked in the house and his mood had skyrocketed so high that it would be impossible to ruin it.

“Smells delicious,” Lance murmured as he leaned over his mom’s shoulder to plant a kiss on her cheek. 

She reached up to place her hand over his, leaning her cheek into him for a moment before resuming what she was doing. “You’re home earlier than I expected!”

“Is that a bad thing?” Lance teased. When she shot him a look over her shoulder he laughed, settling into one of the barstools at the counter. “I didn’t have anything else to do today so I figured I’d spend as much time here as I could.”

“Such a sweet boy,” She smiled up at him.

“That’s debatable,” Lance’s sister, Veronica, appeared in the kitchen suddenly, crossing the room to envelop Lance in a hug. “He has his moments, sure. But I wouldn’t say he’s a sweet boy overall.”

“Nice to see you, too, Ronnie.” Lance hugged his sister back, squeezing her so tightly against his chest that she groaned and tried to squirm away.

After that, Lance greeted the rest of his siblings and Nadia and Sylvio. They would all be together again on Christmas Day, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t come together today, too. Lance was incredibly lucky in the fact that his family was more than his just family— they were his friends, too. He genuinely enjoyed the company of his family and he knew that they felt similarly. Going home— whether for the holidays or just or a quick dinner one night— was something Lance always looked forward to.

So, he settled into the couch, glancing around at all the beautiful Christmas decorations his mom had put up and snuggling under a blanket. Christmas movies were on the TV as Nadia and Sylvio played together in front of the TV, creating their own make believe world. Lance could, happily, remain like this for the rest of his life.

“So,” Veronica plopped down on the couch next to him, snagging the edge of his blanket and yanking half of it until it was covering her lap, too. “Tell me about this boyfriend of yours.”

Lance choked, “Boyfriend? I don’t have a boyfriend! Who told you that?”

Instead of responding, Veronica glanced at the kids who were still engrossed in their game.

Of course, Lance realized far too belatedly, it probably looked like a date to them. Not that they had that solid of a grasp on what dates even are, anyways, but they were definitely old enough to start assigning labels like  _ boyfriend _ . Lance tried not to let that stick in his mind, tried not to picture what it would be like to actually call Keith is boyfriend. Although, in the brief moment that he succumbed to the idea, he thought it would be nice.

“No, he’s not my boyfriend. He’s just a friend.” Lance wanted his voice to come across steadier but he knew it didn’t.

Veronica was looking at him in a way only a sibling could— she was analyzing his expression and reading what was written on his heart. He didn’t need to say anything because she knew everything he was keeping locked away anyways. “A friend, huh?”

“Just a friend,” Lance confirmed feebly.

“I also like to bring my friends out to spend time with my niece and nephew,” Veronica said and Lance groaned. “Totally normal, not-date activities. I get it completely.”

“Ronnie,” Lance whined, leaning his head onto his sister’s shoulder.

“Would it really be so bad if they  _ were _ dates?” She asked in response, leaning her head onto his. “Dates aren’t that bad, you know.”

“It’s not a date unless  _ both _ people consider it a date,” Lance felt a little dejected, even if he didn’t want to admit it.

He’d been working hard to keep Keith in the appropriate box in his mind— and that box was the  _ somewhere between good acquaintances and actual friends _ box. He would allow himself to shift Keith to a new box once they became actual friends. But they’d only ever hung out the few times and all of their conversations had happened in the last few days so Lance didn’t think they were quite there yet. They certainly weren’t close enough for Lance to put Keith in the  _ dating _ box. They  _ were _ close enough for Lance to put Keith in the  _ crush _ box, but he didn’t want to. In fact, he’d taped the lid of that box shut and shoved it to the back of his mind.

Keith was one of those guys that everyone had heard of. He was one of those guys who was just generally known on campus. Nobody really knew him well, but everybody knew  _ of _ him and everybody— Lance definitely included— found him attractive. His aloof behavior and seeming disinterest in the world around him gave him that sort of bad boy appeal that everybody fell for. So Lance would only be one of the masses if he put Keith in that  _ crush _ box. And if there was one thing Lance refused to be, it was one of those idiots pining uselessly after Keith. 

Still, as it turned out, Lance couldn’t stop himself from pining completely. To be fair, what was he  _ supposed _ to do when pinned down to the ground by Keith?  _ Anyone _ would pine in that situation. Really, anyone.

“I don’t think you know what he considered it,” Veronica tried to reason. She was like that— always looking for an explanation or a logical argument for something. She never took things at face value; she dissected them, inspected them and then learned how to put them back together. “Unless you asked him, of course. Which I know you didn’t.”

“Of course I didn’t!” Lance tried to keep his voice low. He was certainly close enough that Veronica would be able to hear him even if he whispered. But the emotions of the entire thing were getting the upper hand and he struggled to swallow down the edge of desperation that wanted to creep into his voice. “What was I supposed to say? ‘ _ Hey man, it’s been great hanging out with you for 24 hours. By the way, are we engaged yet? _ ’”

Veronica snorted a laugh next to him, nudging her elbow into his ribcage. “I think there would probably a way to ask without coming on  _ quite _ so strongly.”

“I couldn’t ask,” Lance emphasized. “There would be no reason to ask. They clearly weren’t dates.”

When Veronica sighed, Lance wasn’t sure if she was sad  _ for _ him or  _ at _ him, but it didn’t matter. He felt the same sadness dampening his own heart, even if just minisculely. Because, in truth, he had absolutely nothing to be sad about. Even if he and Keith would never be together, he was getting to spend time with him, getting to know him and to learn the inner workings of his heart and mind. He was getting to do the one thing everyone on campus longed to do— he was getting a glimpse into the real Keith.

How was he supposed to be sad about that?

Silence lapsed between, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was never uncomfortable. Lance didn’t think he could ever feel anything other than perfectly at ease with his family and it was exactly what he needed. He needed to ground himself and to get his head back on straight. He needed to get his heart to understand what his mind already knew— that he was  _ lucky _ and shouldn’t be wishing for more.

A commercial came on the TV then— one of those ones that was, for some inexplicable reason, louder than what they had been watching. It drew the attention of everyone in the room with the sudden burst of noise. Lance watched for a moment, tuning back out as soon as he realized that it was just a toy commercial. But, not everyone tuned out the commercial. In fact, Sylvio watched it, enraptured, mouth hanging partially open and eyes wide. As soon as the commercial ended, he rounded on Lance.

“I forgot about that!” He cried, throwing himself into Lance’s lap and trying, unsuccessfully, to climb up into it. “I forgot to ask Santa for that! It was on my list and I forgot!”

Lance reached down and scooped Sylvio up, settling him onto the cushion between him and Veronica. “We talked about this, buddy, remember? You can just write him a letter with what you forgot!”

“Okay,” Sylvio nodded earnestly, already scrambling off the couch. “I need to write him one right now, then. Are you coming?”

Strictly speaking, Sylvio didn’t need Lance’s help to write a letter to Santa, but Lance wasn’t about to say no. So, he stood up, ripping the blanket off Veronica’s lap as he went and wrapping it around his shoulders like a cape, laughing when she cried out at the sudden rush of cold air, and he followed Sylvio into the kitchen. Sylvio settled himself at the counter, waiting patiently for Lance to collect some paper and markers to write with. Once Lance had gathered everything, he placed it on the counter in front of Sylvio and took a seat in the chair next to him.

Immediately, Sylvio got to work. He pulled the piece of paper closer to him, taking great care to select exactly the right marker. And then he uncapped it and got to work, scribbling away on the piece of paper. Lance began to watch over his shoulder but was quickly distracted by Nadia when she climbed up his seat and into his lap instead.

Lance wrapped his arms comfortably around her, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. She squirmed, twisting so that she was looking up at him. “Uncle Lance, did you ask Santa for everything you wanted?”

“You know,” Lance said after a moment’s thought, “I didn’t. I was so busy telling him how good you two were that I forgot!”

“That, and,” Sylvio didn’t glance up from his letter, but he jumped seamlessly into the conversation. “Talking to Keith.”

Lance didn’t have to look up to know that his mom was eavesdropping now, her attention honing in on them immediately. “Ah, yeah, I guess I did talk to Keith a little that day, too.”

“Does he  _ know _ Santa?” Nadia asked, eyes as wide as saucers. “Is that why he was there? He isn’t  _ really _ an elf, is he?”

“No, he’s not an elf,” Lance laughed a little, “But he definitely knows Santa. Santa trusts him a lot, which is why he was there.”

“Woah,” Nadia said after a moment, looking as if her entire world had just been flipped on its head. Lance couldn’t help but smiling. “We know one of Santa’s best friends.”

“Yes,” Lance said, pulling her a little closer, “We do.”

Sylvio, who seemed distinctly less impressed but it could be because of his focus on his task, chimed back in, “Does that mean he doesn’t have to write Santa a list? Or tell him what he wants?”

“No,” Lance smiled a little broader, “He still has to do all the same things. Santa has magic, but he can’t read minds! He can’t know what people want unless they tell him. Not even his best friends!”

“So has  _ he _ told Santa what he wants this year?” Nadia spun around in Lance’s lap, climbing up him earnestly until they were eye-to-eye.

“I don’t know,” Lance answered, even though he was certain Keith would never write a letter to Santa. He probably hadn’t even written one as a child. “I didn’t ask him.”

“You need to ask him  _ right now _ .” Nadia insisted, already reaching for Lance’s pocket where his phone was.

“Woah!” He said, blocking entry to his pocket. “I’m sure Keith is busy right now. I can ask him some other time, we don’t need to bother him.”

“Uncle Lance!” Nadia whined, tugging on his hand. “This is important!”

“It is,” Sylvio agreed, finally looking up from his own letter. “If he hasn’t written one yet, he can come join us. I’ll wait to finish mine until he’s here. Plus, you haven’t even started yours yet!”

Lance looked between the two of them. Logically, he knew he shouldn’t be bothering Keith with this. He knew that he should just leave Keith alone and let him enjoy whatever plans he had that day. He  _ knew _ that, just like he knew a lot of things. And yet, still, he sighed, moving his hand away so Nadia could dig out his phone. She handed it to him, waiting earnestly for him to dial Keith’s number.

“Put it on speaker phone!” She demanded, reaching to yank his phone back immediately.

Lance barely managed to click the speaker phone button before she had it in her hands, leaning away from Lance so he couldn’t interfere.

The phone only rang once before Keith picked up. “Hey, Lance, what’s up?”

“Hey—” Lance started to say.

But Nadia overshadowed him immediately. “Keith!” She cried, holding the phone too close to her face. Lance winced, hoping that it wasn’t loud and garbled in Keith’s ear. “Keith, did you write a letter to Santa?”

Well, there was something to be said for getting right to the point, Lance supposed.

“Oh, hey Nadia,” Keith replied smoothly, as if he weren’t totally thrown off by the situation. Lance assumed he had to be, but he handled it well. “No, I haven’t written my letter to Santa yet this year.”

“You should come join us!” Sylvio chimed in, officially pushing his paper away in a motion that was clearly meant to indicate that he was waiting for Keith.

“What?” Keith asked on the other end of the phone.

Lance tried to reach around Nadia and snag his phone back, but she was fast and leaned away from him before he could get his hands on it. Still, he spoke over the two of them until they quieted down and he was the only one talking. “Sorry, Keith, it’s nothing. They were just writing their letters to Santa because they forgot a few things and were worried about whether or not you’d written yours yet.”

“That’s… really sweet,” Keith said and it sounded like there was a ghost of a smile on his lips.

“And since you haven’t,” Nadia cut back in smoothly, “You need to hurry up and get over here so we can write them together!”

“You don’t have to!” Lance half-yelled, shooting Nadia a look. Nadia was, as Lance expected, completely unapologetic. 

At that moment, Lance’s mom caught his eye, gesturing to the food she was still cooking and mouthing “there’s more than enough”. There was a knowing twinkle in her eye that made Lance’s stomach feel uneasy but he knew that he was going to have to deal with twenty questions from this no matter what.

So, he sighed and leaned over Nadia again. “You definitely don’t have to if you don’t want to,” He began, meeting his mom’s eyes for a brief moment before continuing. “But you’re definitely welcome over if you want to come. The kids would obviously love to see you and mom’s making a big dinner with more than enough for you.”

“Are you sure?” Keith asked on the other end and he sounded somewhere between hopeful and hesitant. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“What manners,” Lance’s mom whispered before leaning across the counter and raising her voice so that Keith would be able to hear her. “Keith, honey, it’s no problem at all! I fully expect to see you here within the half hour, okay?”

Keith laughed on the other end of the phone, light and lilting and it made Lance’s world light up. “Okay,” He agreed. “Thank you for the invite, I’ll be over soon. Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“You’ll have to text me the address.” Keith finished.

“Can do,” Lance confirmed a moment before they hung up. 

He didn’t look up at his family right away, instead drawing out the length of time it took him to get his phone back from Nadia and text Keith their address. But he could only make that last so long. He stared down at his screen for a long moment after that, pretending he couldn’t feel the weight of his mom’s gaze on him. But he could. Oh boy, could he ever.

Finally, with a sigh, he lifted his head and met her gaze. “He’s just a friend.”

“I didn’t say anything!” She defended, lifting her hands in front of her as if in surrender. “But I will say that he sounded happy to hear from you.”

Lance let out a long, low groan, burying his face in Nadia’s hair. She laughed, squirming away from his warm breath on her neck that was no doubt tickling her. Lance held on tighter, blowing gently at the back of her neck. She squealed and laughed again, trying to push away from Lance. It was the perfect distraction for his head and his heart. For a few minutes he was able to just live in the moment and not pay attention to the jittery anticipation that wanted to settle into the corners of his heart.

It didn’t take long, however, for Nadia and Sylvio to move on, returning to the family room to play, promising that they’d come back once Keith was here. And so Lance found himself alone in the kitchen with his mom. She didn’t talk, didn’t ask any questions, didn’t do anything other than continue cooking and send him pointed looks on occasion. Of course, Lance pretended not to notice her looks, scrolling through various apps on his phone to help pass the time.

And then, suddenly, in what seemed like way too little time, there was a knock on the door and Nadia and Sylvio were tripping over each other as they raced to the door to let Keith in. Lance had barely made it into the entryway before they yanked the door open, revealing Keith standing on the doorstep, hair messy and motorcycle helmet tucked under his arm.

“Hi,” He said, his eyes straying from Nadia and Sylvio to Lance.

“Hi,” Lance breathed in response, once again finding his mind blank of any other words that has ever existed.

“Keith! Keith!” The kids were jumping up and down in front of him, tugging on his sleeves and pulling him through the door.

Keith stumbled in, smiling to himself as he attempted to catch his balance long enough to kick his shoes off. And then the kids were dragging him into the kitchen with absolutely no preamble. Lance watched them go, his heart cracking open, his emotions spilling over onto his face. He could feel Veronica in the doorway to the family room, question poised on the tip of her tongue, but he didn’t look at her. Instead, he followed them into the kitchen where Lance’s mom was pulling Keith down into a hug. 

So much for introductions, it seemed.

“Sorry,” Lance murmured as he finally managed to slide up next to Keith. “Didn’t really get a chance to warn you about the family.”

Keith looked distinctly out of his element, but there was a glow in his eyes. “It’s alright, it’s nice. My family is really small so I’ve never know what this was like.”

Lance’s heart didn’t know if it wanted to swell because Keith enjoyed his family or shrink because Keith didn’t know what it was like to really have a family. Family has always been and would always be the most important thing in the world to Lance. He couldn’t imagine growing up any other way. It made him a little sad to think that Keith had never known this.

“Well, they can be a lot. So just… be prepared.” 

“Consider me successfully warned.” Keith bumped his elbow into Lance’s and Lance felt a jolt go up his arm.

As Sylvio stole Keith away again, Lance exchanged a look with his mom. She was grinning from ear to ear, basically beaming back at him and Lance felt his heart pause in his chest. He reminded himself that he didn’t do this, he didn’t invite Keith over. Keith wasn’t here to meet the family, this wasn’t some big step. Keith was here for the kids and the kids alone, and Lance needed to remember that. More importantly, his  _ heart _ needed to remember that, although it clearly didn’t have any intention of doing that.

Keith pulled a chair away from the kitchen table and set it up next to the counter. Lance expected him to settle in then, but he didn’t. Instead he pulled another chair to the counter and set it up next to the first. Only then did he sit down, looking up to Lance immediately and patting the empty seat next to him. Lance took a deep breath, feeling it settle into the very depths of his abdomen before letting it out slowly and crossing the room to sit down next to Keith.

“You have to make sure to address it to Santa,” Nadia was saying as she doled out markers to everyone seated at the counter. “Otherwise he won’t know it’s for him.”

“Reasonable,” Keith agreed next to Lance.

Lance bumped his knee out of the sight of the kids and Keith had to bite back a smile.

“And this time we really can’t forget anything,” Sylvio added, a finger in the air as if to demonstrate the importance of this fact. 

“Well, we could write another letter,” Lance tried.

Sylvio shook his head adamantly, “He can’t read that many letters! We can only write him one!”

“Right,” Lance backed down immediately, trying to hide his own smile at Sylvio’s vigor. “Of course, my bad.”

“Yeah Lance, geez.” Keith whispered under his breath so that only Lance would be able to hear. Lance whacked him in the side.

Next Nadia passed out the pieces of paper and began to instruct them on how to create a proper list. She was very clear in the way in which things should be ordered to make it easiest on Santa. Keith and Lance both listened aptly, their full attention on her as she gestured vigorously with her hands to make her points. Once she was finally done, she allowed each of them to pick up a marker and begin making their letters to Santa. Lance dove into his right away, outlining what a good boy he’d been this year (Nadia had insisted it was good to remind Santa, even if he had his list) before getting to the list of things he wanted.

While Lance was paused, trying to think of what to put on his list, Keith paused next to him, too. 

“Shit,” He muttered, realizing a moment later what company he was surrounded by. “Er— oh, uh,  _ shoot _ !”

Lance snickered, looking over at Keith who had, apparently, misspelled one of the words in his letter. He’d crossed it out but the markers were so thick that it just looked messy at this point. 

“You intend to send  _ that _ to Santa?” Lance goaded, leaning over closer and making a disgusted face. “Santa deserves better!”

“I  _ know _ that,” Keith said, already crumpling his letter into a ball and turning pleading eyes on Nadia. “Can I have another sheet, please?”

Nadia considered this for a moment, “Alright,” She said diplomatically before adding, “But this is your last one so don’t mess it up!”

“I won’t,” Keith confirmed, taking the offered paper with a smile of gratitude.

“You know,” Lance leaned in again. Because he wanted to be close to Keith. Because he liked being close to Keith. Because he was an idiot who had a crush that he absolutely wasn’t going to admit, ever. “You could always get me to proof-read it for you. I’m a— what did you call me again?”

“An English nerd” Keith supplied.

“Right, an English nerd.” Lance couldn’t help but laugh a little to himself. The laugh caught in his throat, though, when Keith glanced over at him without raising his head, his eyes veiled by his long lashes. Lance cleared his throat. “Anyways, I happen to know a thing or two about writing a good letter, so I’d be happy to look over yours for you. You know, if you need the help.”

Keith frowned indignantly, swiping Lance’s marker off the counter and setting it on his other side and forcing Lance to lean over him in an attempt to get it back. Which, okay, fine, Lance wasn’t complaining about that. He braced one hand on the counter— deliberately (but carefully) placing his hand down in the dead center of Keith’s new letter— and leaned way too far into Keith’s space as he reached forward to snag his marker back. And, okay,  _ fine _ , he liked feeling the longer ends of Keith’s hair brushing against his shoulder, becoming a soft tickle where the collar of his shirt ended. In fact, he liked it so much that he paused there, leaning over Keith, long enough to shoot him a grin.

And then he snagged his marker back and settled back into his seat, as if it hadn’t just happened. As if his heart weren’t thundering against his ribs, trying to break through them so they could gallop away. There was a sneaking suspicion in the back of Lance’s mind that his heart was trying to find a new home and that it  _ wanted _ that home to be nestled in Keith’s chest, curled up against his own heart.

Finally situated back in his seat, Lance lifted his hand off of Keith’s letters, a little pleased to see that Keith was simply waiting patiently for him to move his hand. As soon as he did, though, Keith snagged the paper away, hoarding it at the corner of the counter and hunching his whole body over it to prevent Lance from getting back to it. Lance couldn’t stop himself from laughing a little at the sight, but he couldn’t blame Keith. He probably would try and do something again if the letter were just left out in the open in front of him.

So, they finally all settled down quietly and actually worked on their letters. Sylvio spoke to himself quietly once or twice, running through his list of gifts out loud to make sure that he actually included everything he wanted this time. Lance paused when it came down to finishing his because he still wasn’t sure what he was going to write down. He looked around him and realized that he didn’t want anything— he had everything he could ever want. 

He was attending a school he loved in a program he loved. He had lots of close friends that meant the world to him. He and his family were as close as ever. And now he had Keith sitting next to him, laughing with his family and letting Sylvio add a doodle to the corner of his letter. Even if they were only friends, Lance was happy. He honestly couldn’t think of a single thing he could add to his life to make it more perfect than it already was. 

This thought plagued him for a few moments before the perfect idea crossed his mind. He let out the breath he’d been holding in a  _ whoosh _ and quickly scribbled down his idea, making sure to fold his letter up as soon as he was done writing it. Keith glanced over at him but didn’t say anything right away. He took an additional few moments to finish up his second letter before holding it in the air triumphantly to indicate that he had finished without messing up.

“What’d you ask for?” Lance questioned, smiling up at his letter. Keith’s handwriting was small and pointy with the letters jammed really close together. But despite that, it was very neat and easy to read and he managed to write in perfectly straight lines, somehow.

“I can’t tell you!” Keith hastily clutched the paper to his chest, careful to hide any of the words on it while also not crushing it. “Then I won’t get what’s written on here!”

“That’s not how letters to Santa work, you know,” Lance teased. “This isn’t a birthday wish.”

“Oh yeah?” There was a hint of a challenge in Keith’s voice, “What did  _ you _ wish for?” 

“I—I can’t tell you!” Lance squawked, “It’s a secret!”

He wanted to pretend that he wasn’t feeding into exactly what Keith had said, but the shit-eating grin on Keith’s face was too clear to deny. So Lance simply glared at him as Nadia handed out envelopes. And then he carefully slipped his letter inside, ensuring that he sealed it completely shut so that it could never be read by anyone.

By that point, dinner was ready and Keith joined the rest of the family at the table. He sat between Lance and Veronica which Lance had done his best to protest against without raising suspicions from Keith. Ultimately, he’d lost. His mom had insisted that he had to give his sister the benefit of the doubt and Veronica had stuck her tongue out at him from across the kitchen. 

Although, to be fair, she behaved for the most part. The only time she’d even come close to toeing the line was when she’d asked Keith if he was dating anyone. That alone wasn’t terrible— although Lance certainly wouldn’t call it okay— but she made it significantly worse by purposely leaning forward to look pointedly past Keith and at Lance. In that moment, Lance had considered smashing his head into the table repeatedly because that had to be less awkward than Veronica was being. Keith, luckily, had pretended not to notice.

The only other notable moment at dinner was when Keith had commented on the Christmas decorations, saying he’d never seen anything as beautiful. When Lance’s mom had pressed about the decorations his parents did, Keith had confessed— a little embarrassed, it seemed— that his parents didn’t decorate. And that he didn’t decorate either. Lance had nearly dropped his fork. He couldn’t imagine celebrating Christmas without decorating. Even Lance’s dorm was decorated. Certainly not as intricately or as beautifully as his family’s house, but he had put up a tree and some lights. It didn’t seem possible to him, having a Christmas season without decorations. He found himself suddenly feeling a little sad for Keith and it had lingered through the remainder of dinner. 

And then dinner had ended and somehow, miraculously, Lance had come out the other side mostly unscathed. Nadia had entrusted the letters to Keith— he  _ was _ one of Santa's best friends, after all— and Lance had made Keith swear every way from Sunday to not open his letter. Keith had agreed, even though Lance could see in his eyes that his curiosity was piqued. Still, he didn’t seem like the kind of guy to break that sort of trust, so Lance had allowed him to tuck his letter into the pocket of his leather jacket, too.

Keith had said his goodbyes to Lance’s family, initiating a hug with his mom that lasted probably longer than any hug Keith had ever been a part of before. Keith had donned his coat, snagged his helmet off of the hall tree where Lance’s mom has moved it before dinner, and left with a big smile on his face and a thank you for the standing invite he’d just been given.

“I’m so sorry they called you so suddenly,” Lance said as he closed the front door behind him, trailing Keith out into the driveway and stopping at his bike. “I hope we didn’t ruin any other plans of yours.”

“I told you that I didn’t have any plans,” Keith answered simply, beginning to unlock his helmet from where it hung on his bike.

“I know, but you could’ve been lying. It’s pretty hard to say no to them.” Lance watched with a sinking feeling in his heart. He legitimately had no reason to ask Keith to stay, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to. He swallowed it down.

“It is hard to say no to them,” Keith agreed with a small, fond smile. “But I really didn’t have anything else.” He paused then, his helmet halfway to his head. He wasn’t looking at Lance— he didn’t appear to be looking at anything, really. Sort of lost in a daze— and then he added. “I would’ve come though, even if I did have other plans. I would’ve picked this.”

“You would have?” Lance’s voice nearly gave out on him halfway through. As it was, it came out as a raspy whisper, barely filling the space between the two of them.

Still, Keith heard it. He finally turned his head, just slightly, so he was able to meet Lance’s gaze. “I would have,” He confirmed just as quietly, as if anything any louder would shatter the delicate air surrounding them. “I would pick doing these sorts of things with you over anything else.”

Whatever breath had been in Lance’s lungs was stolen straight out of him. He couldn’t look away from Keith’s eyes, couldn’t stop staring at him with his mouth partly open in awe. He felt like he was floating, hovering just a little bit above the ground, quickly ascending towards cloud nine. He tried to tell himself that it was just the Christmas atmosphere that made this feel romantic— that it was the lighting from the Christmas lights and the few snowflakes floating gently in the air.

But that wasn’t Christmas magic and Lance could feel that in the depths of his bones. That had to be something else, didn’t it? It couldn’t just be wishful thinking, couldn’t just be an illusion of the light. It  _ had _ to mean more than that.

“Anyways,” Keith leaned away and Lance realized for the first time that they’d been leaning towards each other. Even with Keith pulling away, they were still only about a foot apart. It didn’t stop Lance from mourning the loss of their closeness though. “I should get going. Feel free to call me last minute any time, okay?”

Lance tried to suck in a breath, to get air back in his lungs, but it didn’t work. Suddenly his lips felt cold and he could only think of one thing he wanted to do to warm them up. “Yeah,” He said sullenly, taking his own step back—even though it hurt—and dropping his gaze as Keith slid his helmet on. “I’ll definitely keep that in mind.”

Keith leveled him with one more lingering glance before sliding his helmet on, climbing on his bike and speeding off without another glance back. 


	6. Chapter 6

_ [Lance McClain 11:47am] _

_ Are you home? _

Lance slipped his phone into his pocket after sending the text, sprinting back in the house to help carry the last of the boxes to the car. Veronica was about to drop Lance back off at his dorm— he wasn’t going to see them again until Christmas eve— but he’d gotten another idea. After explaining it to his mom, she’d gone into the basement and pulled out every extra Christmas decoration she had, piling as much of it into the car as she could.

_ [Keith Kogane 11:53am] _

_ Where else would I be on a Wednesday morning? _

It took Lance a moment to actually unlock his phone and reply to the text, but he couldn’t stop a smile from coming to his lips while he thought about his reply. He bit the corner of his lip as he slammed the trunk door shut.

“Thank you,” Lance said to his mom, bending down to hug her and give her a kiss on the cheek.

“Make sure he returns them all in person so we get to see him again,” She said in response, cradling Lance’s face in her hands. “And remember that I’m so proud of you.”

A little choked up, Lance had no response but to hug his mom again. Finally she released him and he was able to say goodbye to the rest of his family before climbing into the passenger seat and pulling out his phone while Veronica backed out of the driveway.

_ [Lance McClain 12:00pm] _

_ I don’t know, I don’t keep tabs on your life. _

_ [Keith Kogane 12:01pm] _

_ Maybe you should start. _

Lance wasn’t quite sure exactly what that meant, but he was definitely sure that he was flushed a deep shade of red after reading that.

_ [Lance McClain 12:04pm] _

_ Maybe I’ll start. _

_ in 20 minutes _

_ when you let me into your dorm. _

Veronica was glancing at him occasionally as she drove, but she had the decency to not say anything. Lance had a sneaking suspicion that she knew he was less-than-thrilled with her for her question at dinner the night before and was trying to get back on his good graces.

_ [Keith Kogane 12:09pm] _

_ You’re coming over? _

The response forced Lance to pause for a moment and consider his idea— something he hadn’t yet done. Since the idea had crossed his mind, he’d only thought about how to make it happen, never stopping to think about whether he  _ should _ do it. He locked his phone and stared down at the black screen for a moment, suddenly feeling a little jittery and worried. Maybe this was a bad idea. He didn’t really have the right to barge into Keith’s dorm. He was still a little surprised that he even knew  _ where  _ Keith’s dorm was. If it hadn’t been for Keith’s offhand comment after dropping him off that first night, Lance wouldn’t even be able to be doing this. If it hadn’t been for that comment, Lance wouldn’t have been able to pick him up for sledding. Sure, he could’ve asked. But the point was that he’d never  _ needed _ to, that all of their plans flowed smoothly together with no hiccups. 

But maybe that offhand comment had been fate. Or Christmas Magic. A sign of some sort, at the very least. That offhand comment had given him the information he needed to be able to make this idea a reality and he had to trust that it was the right thing to do. in his gut, he felt like it was. 

_ [Lance McClain 12:15pm] _

_ You better believe it. _

_ You’re lucky that I’m gracing you with this beautiful face so many days in a row. _

He wanted to imagine that Keith laughed at that when he read it.

_ [Keith Kogane 12:18pm] _

_ Fine, I guess I’ll put pants on. _

That made Lance laugh out loud, causing Veronica to glance over at him with an eyebrow raised. He shook his head at her, locking his phone again instead of responding. They were just about five minutes away, there was nothing really left to say after that. Veronica huffed out a quiet laugh but still didn’t say anything until they were on campus and she needed directions. Lance gave them to her and she navigated her way across campus smoothly. In what felt like only the blink of an eye, Lance was climbing out of the car and onto the curb by Keith’s dorm, Veronica stepping out of the car too to help him unload.

They opened the trunk and piled the contents on the sidewalk, leaning the taller box against the side of the building. Veronica offered to help Lance carry them in but he declined, thanking her for the ride and sending her on her way. Once she was gone, he hoisted one of the boxes up into his arms and headed inside. Their campus was safe and most people had gone home for Christmas, Lance wasn’t worried that anything would happen to his other things if he left them outside for a few minutes.

The trek up to Keith’s dorm was pretty easy— only one flight of stairs. Lance reached the door and tapped it gently with the toe of his shoe, arms too full for him to use his hand to knock properly. The door opened a moment later to Keith standing on the other side, clad in sweatpants and a t shirt that Lance had to assume were his pajamas. His hair was messy, too, like he’d just gotten out of bed. Lance smiled warmly at him.

“Good morning!” He chirped as Keith stepped aside to allow him entrance into the space. Lance walked in, continuing into the family room and depositing the box on the floor.

“Good morning,” Keith trailed Lance further into the room and there was an audible edge of sleepiness to his voice that made Lance squirm in his own skin. He loved it. Too much. “What’s all this?”

“This,” Lance replied, gesturing to the box with a flourish, “is a very small part of it. The rest is outside. You coming to help me bring it in or not?”

Keith glanced down at his bare feet before shrugging and following Lance out the door and down the stairs. He tried to step outside but Lance forbade him from doing so without shoes on, so he hovered in the doorway and allowed Lance to load up his arms before he returned to his own dorm. It took them a total of two trips together to get the rest of the stuff inside, piled up high in the middle of Keith’s dorm. Once it was all there, Lance stepped back and appraised the items proudly.

“So,” Keith said after a long moment of silence, “Are you going to tell me what’s in the boxes or?”

“I was thinking of waiting awhile longer. You know, letting the anticipation eat away at you a bit,” Lance laughed when Keith shot him a glare. Finally, he caved and stepped forward, opening the nearest box to reveal a series of smaller boxes, all filled with ornaments.

“Christmas decorations?” Keith sounded awed. “You brought over Christmas decorations?”

“Yep!” Lance began to shift the boxes around so that he could more easily reach the one with the Christmas tree inside. “And I’m going to stay and help you put them up.”

“Inviting yourself over?” Keith teased, stepping forward to help Lance spread the boxes out a little easier. 

“Yes, well, where else are you going to be on a Wednesday?” It made Lance smile to see Keith roll his eyes at his own words being thrown back in his face.

“Fine,” Keith sighed after a moment, glancing at Lance out of the corner of his eyes, “I  _ guess _ you can stay.”

Lance opened one of the boxes in front of him, grin splitting across his face as he looked at the contents inside. He quickly reached in, his hand gripping a fistful of fabric. Glancing at Keith to make sure he wasn’t looking, Lance yanked his hand back out of the box, folding both arms behind his back before turning to smile at Keith who was now frowning skeptically at him.

“You know what?” Lance said, “Just for that attitude, you get  _ this _ .”

Before Keith could say or do anything, Lance pulled the santa hat out from behind his back and jammed it on Keith’s head, trying to at least be careful enough to not push all of his hair right into his eyes. Keith jerked away quickly, immediately reaching up to yank the hat off but Lance held firm to the ends of it so he couldn’t pull it away.

“Absolutely not,” Keith tried to sound stern but it didn’t deter Lance in the least.

Lance was leaning over the box that separated them, hands holding tight to the hat on either side of Keith’s face, He was definitely invading Keith’s space again but this time he had to, it was the only way he could maintain both his grip on the hat and his balance in general. Keith was looking up at him through those stupid long lashes again, his eyes dark but not stormy.

“Come on,” Lance whined, leaning just the tiniest bit closer. His nose was practically brushing Keith’s at this point. He had to fight not to lick his dry lips.

“I don’t do Christmas, remember?” Keith crossed his arms over his chest but his eyes never strayed from Lance. Except, maybe  _ once _ to glance down at his lips but Lance wasn’t fully convinced he hadn’t imagined it.

“And I’m changing that,  _ remember? _ ” Lance hoped his voice came out steady. Honestly, his pulse was roaring in his ears so he could barely even hear himself talk.

It took a moment more of glowering before Keith smacked Lance’s hands away from the hat, begrudgingly leaving it on his head. Lance toppled and had to scramble to catch himself on the edges of the box between them so he didn’t fall onto it and crush anything inside. After a moment he was more stable and able to right himself, looking pleased at Keith who was still staring at him with hard eyes.

Pretending not to notice Keith’s pouting, Lance resumed unpacking boxes without saying anything else, spreading things out on the table, the couch, the floor— anywhere Lance could find space. Which, as it turned out, was pretty much everywhere. Keith kept his dorm incredibly clean. Like, immaculate. Lance had a sneaking suspicion that he could inspect the whole dorm and not find a spec of dust or a piece of garbage anywhere. There was even a coat tree just inside the door that was wearing all of Keith’s coats.

“Oh,” Lance realized all at once that he was still wearing both his coat and his shoes. “I’m so sorry!”

He sprang to his feet immediately and hustled to the door, kicking his shoes off and lining them up alongside Keith’s. Next, he shrugged off his jacket and hung it on the only free hook on the coat tree, his dark jacket blending it pretty seamlessly with Keith’s. Once he was done, he returned to find Keith smiling a little, down into his lap, like he didn’t want Lance to see it. 

“So,” Lance cleared his throat as an attempt to ease his nerves a little bit but it didn’t work. He hadn’t been feeling nervous before, which is definitely when he should have been feeling nervous. But now that he was here, inside the dorm and had received a warm welcome from Keith—  _ now _ he was nervous? He glowered internally at his heart for the little sense it made. “Where do you want to put the tree?”

In the time Lance had been gone, Keith had straightened his hair out underneath the hat. It no longer blocked the majority of his eyes but now fell across his face in a way that almost looked artful. It also gave Lance a perfect view of his full expression, so it was easy for Lance to see the serious consideration Keith was putting into the question. Lance genuinely believed that Keith wasn’t a Christmas person and he wasn’t surprised in the least to see that the inside of Keith’s dorm was bare. But he  _ had _ been a little worried about his plan. For all he knew, Keith hated Christmas. Or Christmas decorations. It was unlikely, but a small part of him feared that Keith was going to slam the door in his face when Lance knocked. Or at the very least, refuse to put up the decorations.

But Keith was doing none of those things. It was still clear that he would never be doing this on his own, but he was allowing it to be done. He was even helping… a little. It amazed Lance, that this was happening. Literally five days ago he never would have  _ dreamed _ that he’d be inside Keith’s dorm, teasing him easily as if they’d been doing it for years. Honestly, if someone had asked him five days ago if he was going to even have a full conversation with Keith in the next few days he would’ve laughed.

It was crazy to think that it had all happened because he’d finally gotten up the guts to say hi. Suddenly the door had been opened and he’d been able to see a glimpse of who Keith really was and what a nice guy he actually was underneath it all. And he was thankful that Keith had allowed the door to remain open— hell, it wasn’t even that. Keith had invited him in. He’d been nothing but kind and welcoming and Lance was still a little star struck by it all, if he were being honest with himself. 

“If we move the TV a little, I think we could put it in that corner,” Keith was pointing to the corner he was indicating and Lance followed his finger, taking a moment to bring his mind back to the present.

“Yeah,” He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, “I think it would look good there. And it’s not that big of a tree so it’ll fit nicely.”

Keith accepted this answer and began to work immediately, tugging the table the TV was on to the left so that the corner had more space. Lance jumped in quickly, grabbing the other end of the table and lifting it so it was easier to move. They shuffled together, connected by the table, and were able to get it situated in no time, It was smooth sailing, honestly. They stepped in sync, despite never discussing it with each other and it made Lance’s fingertips feel a little jittery. 

“Wait!” Lance cried suddenly and Keith froze in his spot. “We can’t continue until we put on a Hallmark movie!”

“Seriously?” Keith’s shoulders slumped as he realized that Lance’s cry wasn’t nearly as important as he’d initially thought. “I don’t even have the Hallmark channel.”

“Not to worry!” Lance glanced around until he found the remote, “I have an app that can play it. As long as you don’t mind me downloading it on your tv. I’ll even leave it logged in so you can watch Hallmark movies when I’m not here!”

Lance realized belatedly that he had made it sound like he was going to be here a lot, which definitely wasn’t his call. It also wasn’t likely. He tried to remind himself that the last few days had been a weird string of events that had thrown them together consistently but it wouldn’t last. Surely, at most, it would go through the holidays and then they’d fade out and drift apart, going back to passing each other on the Quad or in the hallways but exchanging nothing more than a nod of acknowledgement. Still, it wasn’t the first time he’d had to try and convince himself of this and the nagging voice in the back of his mind wanted to badly to pipe up and give him hope that this could be a permanent thing. He flushed, realizing that it had come across like he was inviting himself over.

“I’m definitely not watching them if you’re not here,” Keith answered immediately, not looking concerned in the slightest about the implications of Lance’s statement. “But you can leave it signed in. I’m only letting you watch them the next couple of days, though. Once Christmas is over, we’re done watching them, deal?”

Lance was too stunned— honestly almost speechless— at the ease with which Keith implied that they were going to continue hanging out between now and Christmas to say anything other than “Deal.”

It took one additional moment of consideration before Keith snagged the remote off the table and extended it to Lance, allowing him to do what he needed. Lance moved almost robotically through the screens on the TV, downloading the app and signing in without really even realizing it. At least, he wasn’t paying much attention to it— his mind replaying Keith’s words on loop— until it came time to check the ‘ _ leave me signed in _ ’ box. He took a deep breath, glancing at Keith one more time but Keith was half buried in one of the boxes, pulling out and sorting the ribbon that was inside. 

Not for the first time, Lance wondered how Keith could seem so inherently calm about everything. Was Lance’s crush the only reason he was turning everything into such a big deal? If so, the logical response to that was that Keith didn’t have a crush at all and didn’t think of this as anything other than normal friendship. Lance tried to remember the first time he met Hunk, tried to think about whether or not he’d put the same amount of significance on each thing they did. He wouldn’t say it was the  _ same _ amount of significance, but he was certain that he’d had the same sort of anxious nervousness associated with wanting someone to like you. So maybe it was just Lance in general then.

Either way, it didn’t change the fact that Keith seemed entirely unfazed. He didn’t bat an eye at anything Lance did and took each of his blunders in stride, almost like he’d been expecting them. It made Lance feel simultaneously comforted and exposed and he wasn’t sure how to reconcile those into one coherent feeling.

Lance clicked the button, watching as the screen loaded and trying to get his thoughts back together. He glanced at Keith again and it was honestly the least helpful thing he could’ve done when trying to collect himself. Keith’s face was screwed up in concentration as he battled with a string of lights, trying to untangle them. The santa hat was still on his head, a little crooked, and the hair that was exposed underneath it had specks of glitter that caught the light. Lance didn’t stand a chance and he knew it. His breath was tugged right out of his lungs as he watched the tip of Keith’s tongue poke out in his concentration. Every fiber in Lance’s being felt like it was alight and he was absolutely certain that he’d be shining brighter than a Christmas tree if Keith were to look at him right now.

He couldn’t name when his crush on Keith had started because— if he were being truly honest with himself— it didn’t start two days ago. It started a long time ago. It had been months since Lance had first started appreciating the way Keith looked strolling across the Diag in his leather jacket. It had been even longer since the first time Lance had stumbled upon Keith asleep at one of the tables in the library and felt the inexplicable need to take off his hoodie and cover Keith in it. He’d done it, almost impulsively, and had nearly melted to the ground when Shiro had delivered it back to him a couple of days later. And somewhere in the midst of all that, Lance had gotten it in his head that Keith’s hair was probably really silky and he just wanted to know. It wasn’t a crime to want that, right?

Lance sighed audibly, drawing Keith’s attention. And  _ god _ the world really hated him today. Because Keith was peeking up at him again, long eyelashes fanning out just above his cheekbones. There was glitter on the tip of his nose and Lance was powerless— literally powerless, there was no way he was going to be able to stop himself, he’s only a human after all— to not reach out and wipe it away. Keith paused his ministrations as Lance’s hand approached his face and the tension in the room seemed to triple. Still, he didn’t pull away, didn’t do anything other than stare into Lance’s eyes and Lance swiped gently across the tip of Keith’s nose.

“Glitter,” Lance whispered so hoarsely that the word almost wasn’t recognizable. He held his finger up to show off the speck of glitter for proof.

“Oh,” Keith said and then he visibly swallowed. “Thanks.”

Not trusting his words, Lance simply nodded his head, turning back to the TV and making a point to scroll through every available movie option before selecting one. His heart was jack hammering in his chest and his mind was a continuous loop of fears— had he just made his crush obvious? Because that would be the  _ worst _ possible thing he could do. Keith would no doubt kick him right out, slamming the door in his face and then coming back in here to sign out of Lance’s hallmark account. And then, surely, Lance would find all the Christmas decorations piled on the curb that night—

—okay,  _ breathe _ , Lance reminded himself. He could feel his thoughts getting away from him. All this time Lance had thought that Keith was aloof but maybe he was just even-keeled, level-headed. Maybe he just had the ability to keep his cool in all situations and Lance had misinterpreted it. Either way, Keith was back to untangling lights and didn’t seem at all perturbed by what Lance had just done. Lance was clearly the only one in the room who was having any sort of struggle— he might go so far as to call it a crisis— with the events that had just transpired.  _ Breathe _ .

The movie finally loaded and the dull tones of it in the background were exactly what Lance needed to calm down. He took one more breath before turning around to help Keith sort everything out. It took some time (honestly, who had been the one to put the lights away last year? They hadn’t even  _ tried _ to wrap them up nicely) and a lot of effort but eventually they got there.

“This is a lot of stuff,” Keith said, and honestly Lance had been expecting it way earlier in the day.

He glanced at his phone which was now sitting on the coffee table next to them to see that it was already mid afternoon. He’d already been here for hours and it felt like the blink of an eye. It made him wonder about the last few days because all of those had felt like they’d gone by way too quickly too. What was that saying? Time flies when you’re having fun? It was true— Lance had been having a lot of fun with Keith. Once he’d gotten his traitorous heart under control and corralled his thoughts back together, he and Keith were able to dissolve into casual conversation and Lance wasn’t a bundle of nerves anymore.

It had been great, actually. Lance had learned some things about Keith— apparently the guy didn’t own a pair of shorts. Like, at all. He wore his stupid ripped jeans in the summer, too. Conversely, Keith had learned some things about Lance, including the fact that he had never been ice skating.

“ _ What? _ ” Keith had set down the ornament he was holding to stare incredulously at Lance. “All this Christmas magic shit and you’ve never even been ice skating? It’s such a stereotypical Christmas thing!”

Lance glanced up from where he was standing in the corner, trying to assemble the base of the tree. “I don’t know, it’s just that my family has never gone. And it just—” He paused, glancing down to avoid Keith’s gaze. “It just doesn’t seem like the kind of thing to do alone.”

A moment passed and then Keith stood up, crossing over to help Lance with the tree. “And you’re telling me you’ve never had somebody to go with?” He asked gently once they were side by side in the tiny corner of space. “Outside of your family, I mean. Someone— someone special.”

“Hard to believe, isn’t it?” Lance laughed self-deprecatingly.

But Keith surprised him with his genuine answer. “Yeah, it’s very hard to believe.”

“Well,” Lance felt awkward and hot all over. He shuffled a little bit further from Keith so he could shimmy out of his sweatshirt, tossing it onto the couch. “I don’t know what to tell you, it’s true.”

They worked in silence for a little while after that, the sound of the movie the only thing breaking up the tension. It wasn’t awkward, really, there just wasn’t anything else to be said on the subject. It didn’t take too long with them focusing solely on decorating for them to get the tree fully set up, branches fluffed up and all. From there they moved to lights and ribbons, creating a system where they each stood on one side of the tree and passed the strands around to each other. If occasionally their fingertips brushed as they worked, Lance didn’t notice. He definitely didn’t notice the tingly feeling that shot all the way up his arm. Definitely not.

Finally the tree was all set up and they were able to step back and look at it, appraising their handiwork. The lights looked good but the ribbon was lopsided in a few places. Still, Lance reasoned, it would look good once all the ornaments were on and nobody would be able to notice the unevenness of the ribbon. Not that Keith was planning on having a bunch of people over to look at his tree. At least, Lance assumed he wasn’t. But maybe he shouldn’t assume— 

“Okay,” he cut his own thoughts off. If there was one thing Lance knew about himself, it was that he tended to over think when it came to things he cared about. And the more he thought and thought and thought about everything related to Keith, the harder it became to pretend he didn’t have a crush. Even if he was past denying it to himself, he wasn’t going to let anybody else know. “Ornaments now and it’ll look perfect.”

Lance picked out one of the ornaments, handing it to Keith with a flourish. It was a big deal after all, the first ornament. Especially considering that Keith wasn’t planning on decorating at all. Keith rolled his eyes but had to bite back a smile as he took the ornament from Lance and hung it on the tree with a bit of a dramatic flair himself. Lance laughed out loud, clapping Keith on the shoulder.

“There, did you die?” He asked, “Or was it really not so bad?”

“Well, I don’t think the death is instantaneous, you know?” Keith remarked back, picking up another ornament. “We’re going to have to wait and see.”

Lance rolled his eyes, “I can just see the headlines.  _ ‘Man died in sleep because he hung an ornament _ ’.”

“My health is a serious concern!” Keith protested, leaning around the side of the tree to hang his next ornament. 

“You’re right,” Lance picked an entire box of ornaments off the ground and moved to stand on the arm of the couch so he could put them higher up in the tree. “You should probably get somebody to come keep an eye on you in case death tries to sneak up on you.”

“Why would I get somebody else to do it when you’re already here?” Keith kept his tone light but he didn’t look up at Lance, not even when Lance wobbled in surprise, nearly toppling off the couch.

“Wait,” Lance braced a hand against the wall to steady himself, “Why is it  _ my _ job to make sure you don’t die?”

“Well it’s your fault death is even in my future,” Keith  _ still _ wasn’t looking at Lance, moving around the small family room with his eyes directed down.

“Death is  _ not _ in your future,” Lance corrected easily, trying not to let his mind run wild with possibilities for why Keith wouldn’t look at him. “You’re being dramatic.”

“Fine, let me die.” Keith tossesd an ornament at Lance, finally acknowledging him. 

Lance leaned to the side to catch the ornament, leaning a little too far and losing his balance entirely. He pinwheeled his arms, having enough sense to drop the box of ornaments onto the couch before he went crashing towards the ground. The ornament he’d caught was held tight in his grip as he tried to spin midair to help land in a more appropriate position.

The whole thing happened so fast. One second he was falling and literally less than a second later he wasn’t falling, instead caught halfway in Keith’s arms, his legs still loosely over the arm of the couch. Keith had one arm under Lance’s shoulders and the other under his lower back and Lance was staring wide-eyed up into Keith’s face.

Keith was solid and warm underneath him, his chest pressed along Lance’s side. He was staring down at Lance, too, his lips parted in surprise. There was the faintest dusting of pink on his cheeks that really complimented his skin and made him look so  _ alive _ . His hands were splayed across Lance’s back and Lance could feel the outline of each individual finger burning into his skin. It almost felt like it would leave a mark, almost like a brand.

The  _ first _ thought in Lance’s mind was a terrible pun. A terrible pun that he absolutely wasn’t going to say. He wasn’t. He was going to swallow the words down and thank Keith instead—

“Looks like I’m  _ falling _ for you.” Shit. Lance wanted to smack himself over the head.

Keith, luckily, huffed out a small laugh but it did sound a little strained. He shuffled forward until Lance was mostly supported by the couch again and helped push him into a sitting position. “I’m fine with that,” he said after Lance was stabilized, “But maybe next time don’t nearly die while doing it, okay? I’ve already got dibs on death tonight.”

“So greedy,” Lance murmured, trying to hide his flaming face. 

At that, Keith  _ did _ outright laugh, smacking Lance playfully on the back. “Shut up and help me finish decorating.”

It took Lance a moment to stand back up. Not because he was afraid, but because he was  _ confused _ . It was like riding a rollercoaster, trying to decipher Keith. One moment he’d be saying or doing something that implied more than friendship and the next moment he’d be walking away, shattering the illusion and going back to things as if nothing had happened. Lance wasn’t honestly sure which he was supposed to believe but his neck was starting to hurt from the whiplash. It certainly didn’t help that he was the kind of person who read into everything, either. If he could just let go and experience the moment, he would feel significantly less stressed by the whole thing. But he couldn’t do that. All he could think about was Keith saying he was fine with Lance falling for him a moment before switching topics entirely and moving on as it had meant nothing. As if he really didn’t care one way or another how Lance felt. Which was likely wrong, but that’s how Lance’s mind was choosing to see it. 

“Right, yeah, of course.” He could hear the disconnect in his own voice and ignored the worried look Keith sent his way. His stomach felt like it was doing flips inside of him, making him feel queasy and unsteady. Suddenly his great mood was a little more sullen and he knew it was absolutely unfair of him to feel that way but hey, since when do feelings listen to logic? Lance’s certainly never have. So he continued to hang ornaments in silence, pointedly avoiding contact of any kind with Keith. 

Keith, for his part,  _ definitely _ noticed. Lance could feel the weight of his concern, but he didn’t voice any of it so Lance was able to just act as if nothing was there. It wasn’t the most mature move, but it’s what got Lance through the remainder of decorating the tree.

“It looks great,” Keith said after Lance hung the last ornament, standing back with his arms crossed and appraising it.

And, truthfully, Keith was right. The tree looked beautiful and it was impossible to tell that the ribbon was crooked, even when purposely looking for it. It really livened up the small space and made the whole area feel more intimate. Which, of course, only served to make Lance feel more bitter at himself. He was being unreasonable for expecting Keith to mirror his feelings, or to know how Lance was perceiving every interaction. Lance knew his mind worked differently than Keith’s, that was easy enough to tell. So he had no right to be upset with Keith for not comforting him, or for insinuating he wanted more when he didn’t. In his mind they probably were just friendly remarks. 

“Hey,” Keith stepped in front of him then, ducking so that Lance had to meet his eyes. “Thank you for this. I’m really glad we did this together.”

“Anything to bring some Christmas spirit to your life,” Lance could feel his bad mood deflating as he looked at Keith.

That little voice in the back of his head had returned and it was nagging at him. Time  _ did _ fly when he was having fun, it said. But perhaps the real reason time seemed to fly was because he wanted more time with Keith. Maybe it wasn’t that time had gone too quickly but simply that Lance hadn’t had enough of it—  _ couldn’t _ have enough of it. And that was a very dangerous thought to consider.

Keith was glancing between his eyes again, his eyebrows drawn together in an expression that Lance now recognized. It was Keith clearly trying to figure out what was going on inside Lance’s mind. “Hungry?” He asked, startling Lance. “Cause I’m starving and we should order some food.”

“Oh, uh,” Lance took a step back, the back of his knee coming in contact with the coffee table and halting his progress. “I should really just be going—”

“Absolutely not,” Keith reached out and took hold of Lance’s arm, tugging him lightly until Lance allowed himself to be moved. Keith pulled him a few steps to the side, spinning him and pushing him gently until he was sitting on the couch. “You’re staying for dinner.”

“No, really, it’s alright—”

“No, really,  _ you are _ .” The way Keith spoke wasn’t unkind, but there also wasn’t any room for argument. So, Lance snapped his jaw shut and nodded, diligently ordering what he wanted when Keith handed over his phone, Uber Eats already open and ready to go.

While they waited for the food to come, they worked together to clean up. Keith organized all the boxes while Lance found the broom and dustpan and worked on sweeping up all the glitter that had scattered. There wasn’t any real hope of getting  _ all _ the glitter— that was just impossible— but Lance did what he could. He was in the middle of emptying the dustpan when a knock sounded on the door and Keith hustled over to answer it, thanking the guy as he took the bags of chinese food in his arms.

And then he headed into the family room again, depositing the food on the table and pulling it closer to the couch so he could sit and eat, looking over at Lance, “Get your ass over here,” he patted the empty cushion next to him.

Lance’s sour mood had long since dissipated— it had no reason to ever surface in the first place, really— so he did as he was told and plopped down next to Keith, gratefully accepting the food that was handed to him.

“Hey,” Keith said, holding tightly onto the chopsticks next, refusing to let go when Lance grabbed onto the other end. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Lance asked, startled, glancing up to meet Keith’s eyes.

“To be honest,” Keith barely smiled, “I don’t know, but you’re clearly upset at me about something. And I’m sorry for it.”

Lance’s heart melted into a puddle in his chest and he could feel his expression softening. “No, it’s not you. I just got in my head a bit. I’m sorry.”

Keith bumped their shoulders together as if to indicate that it was alright and Lance settled back into the couch, pulling his feet up and focusing his attention on the TV. 

“I love this one,” he said, gesturing to the movie that was on, unsure of how else to move past the topic. “Her boyfriend is actually a prince and she had no idea!”

Keith was looking at Lance out of the corner of his eyes and his expression was clearly relieved. It took that look for Lance to realize that it was the first he’d spoken since he’d gotten into his sour mood so he sent Keith an apologetic look.

“I guess I’m about to find out what all the hype is about, huh?” Keith asked, also getting comfortable on the couch. Once again, Lance appreciated the way Keith just bulldozed forward, never really being hindered by something. It would’ve been so easy for him to press for an explanation or to ask more questions, so easy for him to allow Lance’s mood to ruin the night. 

“Oh, you’re going to  _ love _ them.” Lance purposely brushed their knees together and he could swear that Keith flushed.

The night moved on like that, with them so close that they touched every time they moved. Eventually they had finished eating and Keith had turned off the main lights when he’d gotten up to throw the cartons away. He settled back on the couch with a blanket, draping half of it over Lance’s lap and half over his lap and they resumed watching movies by nothing but the light of the Christmas tree. Lance curled towards Keith a little as tiredness began to settle behind his eyes, telling himself that he’d only rest his eyes for a moment.

But then, unsurprisingly, the darkness settled around him. He didn’t notice when his head slipped off of the back cushions of the couch, onto Keith’s shoulder. And he was certainly too far gone to notice when Keith laid his head gently atop Lance’s.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm super excited to share this chapter with you guys. There's a scene (you'll know which) that I honestly think is some of my best work.

The first thing Lance becomes aware of is that he’s warm— the kind of cozy warmth that seeps down to the bone and settles into his soul. He is warm and comfortable and everything has that hazy sort of softness that comes with first waking up. Lance blinks his eyes once, twice, and notices that the room is bright. Sleepily, he rubs at his eyes before flipping onto his side and pulling the blanket back up to his chin and tucking it underneath, settling back into the pillow underneath him. It was Christmas break, after all. He didn’t have to get up at all.

He didn’t have any plans today.

And he had a relatively late night last night.

A relatively late night…

Lance’s mind is snagging on something as he tries to fall back asleep but the sleepy fog is filling his brain so he can’t quite finish the thought. He tries to remember what he did the night before but the sleep is pulling on the edges of his mind, trying to drag him back under. And he wants to give in to it, wants to allow himself to be lulled back into a nice slumber under this warm blanket. He wants to, but he can’t. Because there’s something insistent about the thought, something that makes it feel inherently important, even if he can’t figure out what at the moment. 

In an attempt to wake his mind up enough to finish the thought and give him some peace, Lance blinks his eyes open again. Only this time he isn’t staring at the ceiling above him, he’s staring at a TV in front of him. A TV that’s across the room from him with a Christmas tree standing tall to its right.  _ This isn’t my dorm _ , his mind screams all at once and the fog that had been clouding his mind is blown away in one swift, strong breeze.

He’d had a relatively late night last night.

With Keith.

In Keith’s dorm.

And, by the looks of it, Lance was  _ still _ in Keith’s dorm, curled up on his couch underneath a blanket.

Lance propped himself up onto an elbow to get a better look around, using his other hand to scrub across his face again. Maybe if he closed his eyes for long enough, he’d open them up again to find out that this was some sort of mistake— that he wasn’t actually here.

Nope.

When Lance opened his eyes again, he was definitely still in Keith’s dorm, still wrapped up in a blanket and no doubt sporting a solid case of bed head. Lance looked to his right, to where the other couch was settled against the wall next to the tree, surprised to find Keith sleeping there, underneath his own blanket. Lance startled a little, definitely not expecting that. He remembered watching a movie with Keith the night before and nothing after that so it was only fair to assume that he’d drifted to sleep at some point during. It was nice of Keith to allow Lance to stay the night instead of waking him and sending him on his way— even though Lance would’ve completely understood. Still, even given all those facts, Lance would’ve assumed that Keith would’ve left Lance on the couch, returning to his own bed for the night.

Lance certainly didn’t expect him to have only moved one couch over.

And Lance  _ definitely _ wasn’t expecting how soft Keith looked when he slept. 

Briefly, Lance glanced around the room to make sure they were alone. He knew that they were— who else would’ve snuck in Keith’s dorm in the middle of the night?— but he needed to be  _ sure _ . Once he was, he allowed himself a few moments to stare openly at Keith. Because Keith was laying there, arms folded over his blanket, eyelashes fanning out against his cheeks and mouth parted slightly as he breathed slowly and evenly. Because Keith was there, just, like, three feet away, hair splayed out around him on the pillow as he rested peacefully.

Because Keith was  _ there _ .

And Keith was  _ beautiful _ .

And, no, of course Lance would never say that out loud. But he could admit it within his own mind at least. The window was situated just above the couch Keith was currently occupying and the soft orange glow of the early morning light almost created a halo around Keith. Lance was reminded of how ethereal he’d looked in front of the lights downtown. Slowly, Lance settled back into his couch, never taking his eyes off of Keith. He had always known that Keith was stunning but it had always been a rugged sort of attractive that looked hard around the edges.

This wasn’t that, though. Right now Keith’s edges looked soft, curling slightly as if well worn and well-loved. Keith looked gentle and content and— oh my god, Lance realized suddenly, Keith looked  _ cuddly.  _ There was something about the way he was laying, head thrown to one side, shoulder open and exposed, that made Lance want to crawl over to his couch and settle in, pillowing his head on Keith’s chest and just feeling him  _ breathe _ .

Vaguely Lance wondered how badly Keith would kick his ass for doing something like that.

Would it be worth it?

Lance finally ripped his eyes away from Keith, shaking his head to clear the thoughts. He was  _ not _ considering climbing onto Keith’s couch and snuggling him. He wasn’t. Because that was absolutely absurd.

Overwhelmed by the uncontrollable nature of his thoughts, Lance stood from the couch, keeping the blanket pulled around his shoulders and headed to the bathroom. Keith kept his dorm warm so there wasn’t any  _ real _ need for the blanket, but it was a comfort to Lance— it made him feel more secure and less exposed, so he kept it tightly around his shoulders.

By the time he returned from the bathroom, Keith was stirring on his couch, rubbing gently at his eyes and tousling his bangs so they fell out of his face. Lance’s breath caught in his throat.

_ Who let you be this beautiful? _ He wanted to demand when his heart strained painfully against his ribs. Instead, he settled with a gentle, “Morning, sleepyhead.”

“Oh, hey,” Keith replied and there was a thick edge of sleep to it. His voice was rough, unused after sleeping all night and it sounded sort of gravelly. It went straight to Lance’s heart strings, tugging on them not so subtly. “How did you sleep?”

“Really well,” Lance kept his voice gentle as he settled back onto his—  _ Keith’s _ couch. The couch he had been sleeping on. The couch that belonged to  _ Keith _ . That couch. “How about you?”

There was a stupid and adorable and  _ completely unfair _ line across Keith’s cheek where the crease in his pillowcase had been. His eyes were half lidded as he flipped on his side to look at Lance and Lance’s heart was pining in his chest, his hands itching to reach out and smooth down some of the wilder ends of Keith’s hair. “Yeah, I slept great, too.”

Just to keep his heart from outright exploding, Lance had to glance away from Keith’s eyes. “I’m glad to hear that.”

“Oh!” Keith seemed to wake up suddenly, glancing out the window above him as whatever thought occurred to him. “Shit, what time is it?”

“Uh,” Lance reached forward to snag his phone off the table, noting with a fond pang that Keith had plugged it in for him sometime in the middle of the night. God, where did he get off being so thoughtful? It made Lance’s crush about ten million times worse. Lance paused to think about that for a second, correcting himself. Ten million  _ trillion _ times worse. “Basically eight.”

“Shit,” Keith said again, tossing the blanket off of him unceremoniously and standing up. “We need to go.”

“Go?” Lance echoed, completely thrown off guard. “Where?”

“That,” Keith said, tossing a smile Lance’s way, “Is a surprise.”

The crease on Keith’s cheek wrinkled slightly with his smile and Lance didn’t know how he managed to stop himself from tackling Keith right then and there. “Isn’t it a little early for surprises?”

“Did you bring any other clothes?” Keith asked, completely ignoring Lance’s question, clearly lost in his own thoughts.

“No?” Lance sat up on the couch, still holding the blanket tight. He had come straight here from his family’s house, not expecting to stay the night. And he hadn’t brought clothes to his parents because, well, they were his parents and he always had extra clothes at their house for whenever he showed up. Lance stared back at Keith, pulling the blanket further around hm. He felt like he needed it now more than ever to keep his head out of the clouds. He was dangerously close to drifting off with his thoughts, leaving his real life behind entirely and choosing his daydreams instead. His daydreams that definitely  _ didn’t _ involve Keith. (They did). “Was I supposed to?”

Keith took off without responding, trailing quickly down the hallway and into his room. Lance felt strangely unmoored with Keith gone so he got up and followed behind him, pausing in the doorway to Keith’s room. Keith was inside, closet door thrown open wide as he sifted through his clothes, pulling out multiple things and tossing them onto his bed. The tip of his tongue was out again while he concentrated on whatever thought process was going on inside his head and Lance couldn’t bring himself to do anything other than stare, dumbfounded, as the scene unfolded before him.

Finally, after another minute or so, Keith seemed satisfied with his choices, picking up a set of clothes off his bed and bringing them over to Lance, shoving them into his arms. Lance, baffled, accepted the clothes without any protest, standing in the doorway and just staring blankly at Keith, waiting for direction.

Keith met his gaze for a moment, the curve of a smile lighting up his face, “Go! Change!”

Hastily Lance did as he was told, scrambling back into the bathroom and depositing the clothes on the counter before finally looking at what he was holding. When he’d arrived yesterday he’d had a T shirt and hoodie on underneath his jacket, but he’d since discarded the hoodie somewhere in Keith’s living room, leaving him in only the T Shirt— the same one he was wearing now. Keith had handed him a long sleeve shirt and a hoodie so Lance assumed that Keith had forgotten about the hoodie he’d originally showed up in. Not that he was complaining about getting to wear Keith’s— he certainly wasn’t going to mention that he had his own here somewhere. 

Totally surprised, stunned, baffled, awestruck and a million other things, Lance finally let the blanket drop from around his shoulders and discarded the shirt he was wearing, quickly swapping it for the sweater— that was  _ incredibly _ soft, as it turned out— and hoodie. Lance allowed himself one moment— just  _ one—  _ to indulge, feeling the plush fabric and enjoying the way Keith’s scent surrounded him. Lance’s heart was  _ on fire _ in his chest. In fact, his entire being was on fire, not just his heart. It was like wearing a boyfriend hoodie except without the boyfriend part. Still, the magic was definitely still there. Once his moment (or three) was over, he headed back to Keith’s room, blanket and T shirt in his arms instead. Lance stopped halfway down the hall, swallowing thickly as he glanced through the door to Keith’s room to find Keith in the midst of changing, too, his entire torso bare and exposed. 

Just as Lance had suspected, Keith’s abdomen was lean and toned and  _ jesus _ if this were an anime, Lance would be half dead with a nosebleed right now. He closed his eyes, turning his back to Keith while he finished changing, because it was polite. And because it was the only chance Lance had of grappling with his waning sanity.

“Okay,” Keith hustled out of his room, seemingly unnoticing or unbothered by Lance having his back to him. “We need to hurry! Get your shoes on!”

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Lance asked, tossing his shirt and blanket onto the couch as he followed Keith because he didn’t have the slightest idea of what else to do with them.

“Once we get there,” Keith replied, handing Lance his jacket.

There was something in the anticipatory way Keith was looking at him that made Lance bite back the rest of his questions. There was an air of excitement around Keith and it was clear in the way he couldn’t quite stifle his smile, no matter how hard he tried. So Lance decided to wait patiently, donning his jacket as Keith wanted and not saying anything when Keith hauled a backpack up off the ground and handed it to Lance.

He did partially explain that one, though. “We’re taking the bike,” he said as he opened the door. “So I can’t wear the backpack with you behind me.”

Lance held it in his hand for a moment, feeling the weight of it and considering the options of what could be inside before slipping it on over his shoulders and stepping out the door. He had his hat tucked into his coat pocket because he didn’t want to wear it under the helmet, but he was already cold. The hallway air was colder than Keith’s dorm and there was no doubt in Lance’s mind that the outside air would be significantly colder than that. Still, Lance could bear it for the short amount of time it would take to get there.

They walked down to the bike together, in step with each other, Keith glancing over at Lance every few steps to make sure he was still coming. Once they finally reached the bike, Lance was able to put the helmet on with almost practiced expertise, feeling a little giddy that this was becoming a normal thing to him. 

“I’ve got gloves,” Keith said, holding his hands up with absolutely no preamble to demonstrate said gloves once he’d mounted the bike. “You don’t, so if you get cold, you can tuck your hands in my pockets.”

Lance watched, throat suddenly very dry, as Keith unzipped his jacket pockets and gestured to them. It wasn’t a big deal, Lance insisted to himself. It wasn’t any different than just normally wrapping his arms around Keith. The only difference was that the pocket would be able to protect his hand from the wind, which was something he could definitely use. But still, in the depths of Lance’s gut, unable to be deterred no matter what Lance did, there was a feeling stirring, insisting that this was somehow a step forward. That this was more intimate than simply holding on.

With a thick gulp, Lance climbed on the back of the bike, wrapping his arms around Keith and slipping his hands into the pockets of his jacket. And it definitely  _ shouldn’t _ feel intimate, but it  _ did _ . The warmth of Keith’s body was so much easier to feel through only the thin lining of the jacket and Lance almost felt like he was touching Keith’s skin directly. He wasn’t, but that was the track his train of thought had chosen to take and he couldn’t ditch it, even as the bike sped off.

Lance was so distracted by his thoughts, by the feeling of Keith’s abdomen shifting underneath him as he turned to look over his shoulder or shifted his weight to turn the bike, that he didn’t really pay attention to where they were going. He almost managed to completely forget about the backpack on his back. Almost.

But then they turned and Lance shifted with the bike and he could feel the straps of the backpack pulling taut against his shoulders, reminding him that there was an actual reason for this and that reason wasn’t just for him to feel Keith’s firm stomach. He snapped his attention back to their surroundings, realizing a bit belatedly that they were on the outskirts of town. Still, Lance recognized where they were and he knew their destination a few minutes before they pulled to a stop in front of the pond.

Pond was a questionable word to use to describe it, because it was  _ huge _ . Still, it wasn’t quite big enough to be considered a full lake so everyone in town had unanimously agreed that it was a pond. On the weekends it was one of the most popular ice skating rinks and that was clear by the way the snow was trampled down all around the banks. But, early in the morning— especially a morning like this, in the middle of the week— they had the entire thing to themselves.

“Keith…” Lance breathed as he climbed off the bike and ditched his helmet. The trees around the lake were covered in Christmas lights and they were still on, the yellow-white color of them mingling with the faint remaining colors of the sunrise.

“We don’t have to,” Keith stepped up next to Lance, their arms coming and staying in contact with each other. Neither moved away. “I just thought— you’re doing all these Christmas things for me and I wanted to do one for you.”

Lance looked at Keith, then. Keith, who wasn’t looking back at him. Keith, who was staring stubbornly and steadfastly at the ground, a faint blush dusting his cheeks. Lance didn’t know how to thank him outside of planting a kiss right on his lips but something told him that it wasn’t the right way to handle it. Still, he couldn’t shake the desire and he didn’t really want to, so he settled on a compromise, leaning just slightly to the side and pressing a chaste kiss to Keith’s cheek, noting the way Keith’s entire face flushed red beneath his lips.

“I’m—” Lance hesitated, unsure of what word to use, his lips still just a hair’s breadth away from Keith’s skin. He could smell Keith, both next to him and on him and it made him feel like he was completely enveloped in him. Like he would find a little bit of Keith wherever he went. “Touched.”

Keith shivered underneath Lance and it made Lance press closer to him. He was in dangerous territory and he knew it, but Lance had never been one to run away scared. He thought again about Keith and the way he was suddenly everywhere in Lance’s life. They’d only spent a few days together but it had been all day every day, getting to know each other, stepping closer. Lance would forever associate Christmas with Keith, he knew, no matter how this ended. He wouldn’t be able to put up a Christmas tree without thinking of Keith, would never write another letter to Santa without the image of him popping to the front of his mind. Keith had become so integral to Lance’s life in the few days they’d been spending together and Lance wasn’t honestly sure he’d be able to untangle Keith from his life— and his heart.

“Really?” Keith turned to look up at him then, his eyes hesitant and his lips just centimeters from Lance’s. Lance couldn’t stop himself from glancing down at them, couldn’t help but consider closing the distance between them. He leaned the tiniest fraction closer. “You’re not just saying that?”

“Just saying that?” Lance was briefly startled that Keith didn’t see this as the grand gesture that it was. He dropped his voice low, only speaking into the teeny tiny, barely there space between the two of them. “Keith, this is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

“The sweetest?” Keith echoed, but it sounded both like disbelief and a little bit of a challenge. Like he was waiting for Lance to say something different, something more.

“And the most romantic,” Lance answered, because it was true.

They were standing practically nose to nose along the shore of a frozen lake, underneath Christmas lights with the fading colors of the sunrise painting the world around them. Lance could not, even if he used all his energy, imagine a moment that could be more romantic than this. For once, his heart wasn’t beating erratically in his chest. It was, however, aching with a fondness that was so deep, so profound, Lance was certain it came from his very bones. It was like his attachment to Keith was an extension of his very soul, something he could not ever be rid of. It was like there was some sort of calling from the universe, telling him that loving Keith was the right thing to do— the thing he was meant to do.

Not that he loved Keith. He didn’t. He truly didn’t. But he certainly could. And he knew his heart well enough to know that he would, invariably, fall in love with him if they kept spending time together like this. There was something so familiar about Keith, like they were old souls that had fallen in love in a million past lifetimes. There was something about the way his jagged edges seemed to line up perfectly with Lance’s, completing him and filling gaps in his heart he hadn’t even known he had. It was like the pieces Lance had been missing for all these years of his life added up to one perfectly Keith-shaped hole and suddenly he was complete. As long as he had Keith by his side, he could do anything. He was certain of it.

Even if Keith was the kind of person who didn’t believe in Christmas magic. Even if the odds of Keith feeling like he had some Lance-shaped hole in his soul were slim to none, if they even existed at all. Lance knew, standing here so close to Keith that they were sharing body heat, that none of that mattered. His soul wanted him to love Keith, his soul needed Keith to feel complete. So Lance was going to take Keith in whatever form he could get and he was going to cherish the moments they had together.

“I might have been aiming for that,” Keith confessed after a moment, his breath puffing out between them in a white cloud. 

Lance’s heart was absolutely aflutter now, feeling like it had wings of its own and was taking flight, soaring miles and miles beyond cloud nine. They were just an inch or two apart. Lance leaned in closer, waiting, breath baited, to see what Keith did. Because that was quite the declaration, but Lance wasn’t going to assume. He wanted Keith to meet him in the middle, to reach out to him in the same way Lance was reaching out. He needed Keith to close the final distance between the two of them.

Keith started to lean in too, his eyes just beginning to fall shut when the sound of a car door slamming startled both of them.

“Hey guys—” It was Shiro’s voice. Lance didn’t have to look to recognize it, he’d know Shiro’s voice anywhere. Shiro, seeming to realize what he’d just walked in on, backpedaled so fast he nearly tripped over both his feet and his words. “Oh shit, am I interrupting? I can go. I’ll just go. I’m going— I’m going now. I didn’t see anything—”

But it was too late, the moment was over and Keith was pulling away, putting a much more reasonable distance between them. Lance wanted to turn and glower at Shiro, but he didn’t, instead dropping his head and running his hands through his hair to try and get out some of his frustration. It was fine, he assured himself. If it were real, if Keith really had any sort of feelings that matched Lance’s, they’d surely find themselves in another moment like that. Hopefully one that wouldn’t be interrupted. 

“Hey, guys.” Keith said almost sullenly as Adam climbed out of the car, too, clearly trying to stop himself from laughing.

Shiro looked miserable. He looked the way Lance felt. But still, Lance could see why Adam wanted to laugh. He almost wanted to join him. All this time it had been Shiro trying so hard to get them together and then it had been Shiro to interrupt their moment together and ruin the atmosphere. The irony was stunning, honestly.

“I— I just thought—” Shiro was looking helplessly between Keith and Lance before glancing at Adam for help.

Adam, still doing his best to maintain even the tiniest semblance of composure, stepped up to his husband, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder. “We heard you were gonna be here and thought we might join, if that’s alright? We were actually planning on going skating in the next few days anyways.”

Keith wasn’t looking at Lance, but he also wasn’t saying anything either. He was just sort of standing there, shoulders hunched as if he could curl in on himself. So, Lance took the lead. Because someone had to, and this situation clearly wasn’t about to solve itself.

“Of course it’s okay,” He said, smiling as warmly as he could at them. “It’s just going to be more people who get to watch me fall on my ass a lot and make fun of me.”

“You’re not good at skating?” Adam asked, clearing picking up on the way Lance was trying to diffuse the tension. Shiro was staring apologetically at Keith and they looked like they were having an invisible conversation between the two of them. Lance tried not to decipher it.

“I’ve never been skating before,” He answered, pointedly not looking at anyone but Adam. “And, I mean, I  _ am _ naturally gifted at pretty much everything,” he continued, trying, still, to decrease the tension that was clawing its way down his throat and making him feel like he was going to drown. “But I’m not so sure how I’ll do at this.”

“Well lucky for you,” Shiro finally joined the conversation, his tone too bright, too perky. It was the tone he used when he was about three seconds away from inviting Lance to some event that Keith would also be attending. Lance could see where this was going from a mile away. “Keith has been skating for most of his life! He’ll be a great teacher.”

“Yeah,” Lance shot a smile at Keith who briefly met his gaze. Some of the tension dissolved from his shoulders. “I’m hoping so.”

With the awkwardness of the situation finally dying down a little bit, everyone moved over towards the edge of the pond and began to swap boots for skates. Keith’s extra pair of skates were a tiny bit too big for Lance but were certainly something he could work with. He finished lacing them up and stood up, feeling his ankles wobble beneath him.

“Woah!” He cried, unintentionally reaching out to grip Keith’s upper arm to steady himself.

Keith responded instantly, one hand going to the small of Lance’s back to help keep him upright. “Just take a minute to stand there and get used to it before you try getting on the ice.”

Lance did as he was told, slowly letting go of Keith’s arm and getting a feel for the kind of support he would have in the skates. After a minute or so, his ankles weren’t shaking any longer and he was able to take a tiny step forward. And then another, and another after that. After multiple tiny steps, he was on the ice and the unsteadiness came back immediately. He skated slowly across the ice without meaning too, simply sort of gliding down the slight incline that was there.

“How do I stop?” Lance cried, already feeling a small amount of panic in the back of his throat despite the fact that he was barely moving at all. Honestly, if he were going any slower, he’d be stopped. “Keith!”

A moment later, Keith glided up next to him expertly, reaching out and snagging one of Lance’s hands with his own. Lance glanced up at him, at the way his face was once again at ease and it made his heart swell.

“I’ve got you,” Keith murmured, reaching out to grab Lance’s other hand.

Lance let him, of course, gripping tightly onto Keith’s hands and allowing himself to be guided across the ice. Keith skated backwards, facing Lance the entire time, never once loosening his grip. He instructed Lance quietly and patiently, murmuring when to push off and how to slow himself down. Lance was able to follow the commands easily, remaining perfectly balanced the whole time, but he knew that was all thanks to Keith.

Shiro and Adam seemed to be fairly expert skaters themselves, gliding across the ice, coming together and then breaking apart with a flourish, only to come together again. Lance watched them for awhile over Keith’s shoulder, smiling openly at the way they interacted. They always found their way perfectly back to each other, like they were magnets being pulled together. Like they were meant to be together. And Lance believed they were.

He thought back to that first night, to him and Keith in the crowd of people who were looking at the lights. He remembered thinking something similar then— that he and Keith always managed to drift back together without really trying to. Keith’s hand was warm in his, almost as if it were solidifying Lance’s thoughts.

“Okay,” Keith murmured, loosening his grip on Lance finally, “Time to shine.”

Before Lance could do or say anything, Keith was slipping his hands out of Lance’s grasp and skating off to the side so Lance had a clear path ahead of him. Lance took off carefully, pinwheeling his arms once to try and keep his balance. But then he got it and he was cruising, flying across the ice until he reached Shiro and Adam. Stopping still wasn’t his strongest suit, though, and Lance nearly crashed into Shiro in an attempt to slow down. Shiro laughed, grabbing Lance by the shoulders and helping him steer so that they were going along together.

Adam shot Shiro a not-so-subtle look before taking off easily across the ice, challenging Keith to some sort of competition. 

“I’m sorry,” Shiro said the  _ nanosecond _ Adam was gone. “He texted me to say you guys were going skating today but I honestly didn’t know it was going to be like that. I thought— I thought he was likely to chicken out so I should be here to encourage him but instead I ruined everything!”

Lance wobbled, grabbing onto Shiro’s shoulder for balance as they rounded one of the edges, turning slowly back towards where they had come from. “You didn’t ruin everything, just one moment,” Lance said, his grip like a vice on Shiro. “And it’s really alright, if it’s meant to be, there will be other moments.”

“Do you want there to be other moments?” Shiro prodded, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Lance smacked him on the shoulder. “Plus, I think it’s Keith you should be apologizing to, not me. He was the one who said he planned this to be romantic. And I don’t think it’s ever romantic to have your brother show up unannounced.”

“Wait, he said that?” Shiro spun elegantly on his skates to face Lance. 

“Yes,” 

“He used the word  _ romantic _ ?” Shiro pressed, leaning closer to Lance. “I didn’t know he had that word in his vocabulary.”

Lance laughed, shoving Shiro away, but he didn’t go far. “Technically I’m the one who used it. I said it was romantic and he said that’s what he was going for.”

“Still counts,” Shiro was practically beaming from ear to ear. “My plan is working.”

“ _ Your plan _ ,” Lance emphasized with a finger to Shiro’s chest, “just got ruined. By you. You ruined your own plan. Also, can you please stop meddling?”

“Absolutely not, no. I will not do that.” Shiro said with a laugh, skating away from Lance entirely and leaving him to his own devices. 

With a sigh, Lance skated slowly and carefully back to the rest of them. Adam and Keith had finished whatever competition they had been doing— from what had gleaned, they were comparing speed— and Keith had come out victorious. He was smiling openly, chatting with the two of them and laughing at whatever they said. All the tension from earlier was completely gone and suddenly it was just four friends hanging out and having fun. And yeah, this was definitely not what Lance had been expecting, but he was happy with this. He loved being surrounded by people that mattered to him.

He also loved seeing Keith open and happy, no matter who it was with. He was happy to watch from afar as Keith wrinkled his nose at something Adam said, or shook his head fondly at Shiro’s remark. His heart was once again alight, feeling almost weightless in his chest as he finally cruised into the center of their group.

“Looking good!” Adam commented in approval, smiling at Lance.

“Thanks,” Lance smiled back, but he reached for Keith’s hand anyways.

Keith caught Lance’s hand midway, grabbing on tight and pulling Lance across the ice so that they were face to face again, gliding gently and slowly around the pond. “Getting tired?”

“No,” Lance smiled at him, adjusting his hand so his fingers were intertwined through Keith’s, “I just like doing this.”

“Yeah,” Keith’s cheeks were immediately aflame, “It is pretty good.”

There was more Lance wanted to say, but he decided to save it for a time when it was just the two of them together again. Which, as it turned out, was going to be a different day. When they had all had enough ice skating, they’d agreed to go to lunch and somehow, from there, had ended up back at Adam and Shiro’s house, watching movies. Adam and Shiro, unsurprisingly, had good taste like Lance and enjoyed Hallmark movies. The three of them easily outvoted Keith who sat, pretending to glower on the couch next to Lance, during the duration of the movies.

And then when the night finally wound down, Lance climbed back on the back of Keith’s bike for one more time that day so Keith could take him home. The words remained unspoken between the two of them, weighing heavy as Lance handed the second helmet back to Keith and turned to head inside. It wasn’t until he was inside and going to change into pajamas that he realized he was still in Keith’s clothes, his own shirt discarded at Keith’s place.

He discarded the hoodie, but he slept in the shirt that night, falling asleep and feeling like Keith was still right there beside him. In a way he was, because Keith was nestled very comfortably in Lance’s heart as the world began to go hazy and the sleep took over.


	8. Chapter 8

It took Lance a long time to wake up the next morning, mostly because he didn’t want to. His dream was so good that every time he felt even the slightest tug of consciousness, he denied it, sinking further and further into sleep. It wasn’t often that Lance found himself having that sort of control over his dreams, but this one deserved it. This dream was worth every effort, every struggle, every fight. Lance absolutely was not about to give up to consciousness, was not about to loosen his grip in the slightest. Not until he’d seen this dream through… and then relived it, like, five more times. What else was he supposed to do when he was dreaming of kissing Keith? Of holding him close by the hips, their chests flush together, lips aligning perfectly? 

In his dream they were still at the pond, leaning closer and closer to each other until space didn’t exist between them at all. His dream was, essentially, everything Lance had wanted yesterday to be. It seemed like his subconscious mind was trying to help him, to give him the things he desired. The moment was exactly the same as yesterday had been— lights in the trees, the sun just starting to peek over the horizon and the pond completely empty aside from them. He didn’t need to change anything of that because he’d meant what he said yesterday— it was the most romantic thing he’d ever experienced. The only thing he needed to change was how that moment ended, and his subconscious was more than happy to provide a scenario for that.

According to his subconscious mind, Keith’s lips were soft and pliable underneath his, his hands a warm press on the small of Lance’s back, fingertips just gently brushing underneath the hem of his shirt, making his skin burn in the best way. His hair was soft, too, because dream Lance got to run his fingers through it, trailing his fingertips gently across the sensitive skin at the nape of Keith’s neck and making him shiver while he kissed away the gasp that came to Keith’s lips. Dream Keith reached back for Lance, pulling him closer and then closer still, as if any space between them were too much space. All versions of Lance agreed with that idea. So he went willingly, falling into Keith, being enveloped by Keith, becoming one with Keith. And he kept kissing Keith— his lips, his cheeks, his jaw, his neck— on and on, kiss after kiss, barely surfacing for air. If he died like that, it certainly wouldn’t be the worst way to go.

But, dreams— no matter how wonderful— could only last for so long. No matter how hard Lance tried, he couldn’t stay asleep forever (and he definitely tried). And so, the glow of the late morning finally got through to him, waking him from his sleep and forcing him to face reality. Lance groaned in bed, tracing his lips gently with his fingertips, the feeling of dream Keith still fresh on his skin. He could swear that he could still feel Keith’s fingertips pressed into the small of his back, could still feel Keith’s chest flush against his. It made him feel warm all over and he was grateful— not for the first time— that he didn’t have to share a dorm with anyone else.

It wasn’t the worst way to wake up, honestly. In fact, it wasn’t a bad way to wake up at all. Even though Lance immediately missed the contact with Keith, he could recall the dream perfectly and allowed himself to indulge in it, staying in bed and just replaying the dream over and over again. His heart was full in his chest— of happiness, of anticipation. He wondered if he would actually get to experience kissing Keith or if their near kiss yesterday had been some sort of fluke.  _ That _ , Lance knew, would be the only better way to wake up— with real Keith in his bed, pressing kisses to his lips, biting down on whatever sounds Lance made in response.

Briefly, Lance thought back to his time at Keith’s dorm and the way Keith had gone from saying he was fine with Lance falling for him to moving on as if it didn’t matter. A part of Lance was worried that Keith was going to treat this the same way— that he was going to pretend yesterday had never happened. He was afraid Keith was going to do a 180 and suddenly have no interest in Lance anymore. But the other side of Lance— the side that was a romantic and heart and saw the good in everything— believed that it wasn’t a fluke at all. He believed that they really were going to kiss and it had been interrupted. He believed that he could march through the doors to Keith’s dorms right here and now and plant one right on him and the only thing Keith would do would be to ask what took him so long.

In summary, the truth was that Lance didn’t know what to expect. 

With a sigh, he sat up in bed, banishing the trailing ends of the dream that tried to curl around his mind and pull him back down. It wasn’t productive to spend the day in bed fantasizing about Keith, no matter how appealing it was. He had things to do today. Not pressing things, really, but things nonetheless. He needed to catch back up on laundry and go grocery shopping. He had some basic cleaning to do. It was a bunch of small tasks, but they were the kind of small tasks that added up, piling on top of each other and taking up his entire day. Not that he minded, he didn’t. He just needed to get them done. Plus, they were the banal sort of tedious tasks that would still allow Lance’s mind to wander while he was performing them. So it was the best of both worlds, really, because he could get everything done without  _ really _ having to give up his fantasies.

So, with one final mental image of Keith staring back at him, face flushed and pink lips parted and well-kissed, Lance got out of bed. The cool air rushed around him immediately, but it felt good because Lance knew he was still flushed. He took a steadying breath as he stood up, trying to collect himself and to get his legs to feel a little less shaky underneath him. It kind of worked so he began to collect his clothes, piling the few stray ones into his hamper, deciding to start with laundry because it took the most time. His mind was halfway in his task and halfway in his dream and Lance almost didn’t notice at first that the hoodie he’d grabbed off the couch wasn’t his.

It was Keith’s.

And then, as soon as he realized it, he remembered that he was still wearing Keith’s long sleeve shirt. He was wearing Keith’s long-sleeve shirt and a pair of boxers and that was _ it. _ His face flushed deeper, never fully recovering from the initial blushing, even though he was completely alone and he knew it. He glanced over his shoulder, feeling like his heart was exposed— sewn onto to sleeve of Keith’s sweater— before pulling up the collar of the shirt and smelling it. He closed his eyes, letting the scent wrap around him and make him feel, for the tiniest moment, that he was wrapped up in Keith like he wanted to be. 

It was comforting, to smell Keith’s scent. And there was something about the fact that Lance had Keith’s shirt, that Lance was able to be living this scenario, that made him feel  _ claimed _ . That was, after all, the appeal of boyfriend clothing. It took Lance a few lingering seconds to collect himself and stop his train of thought. Keith wasn’t his boyfriend. ( _ Yet _ , his mind screamed). The moment stretched on and on and on until finally Lance had to open his eyes again and attempt to go back to living his life. Logically, he knew he needed to give the shirt back to Keith. He knew that he should throw it in his hamper with his clothes, washing it and folding it nicely before delivering it back to him. Logically, he knew that was the appropriate etiquette. It was likely exactly what Keith had expected him to do when he’d let Lance borrow it.

But Lance had acknowledged that logic had long since abandoned him, so he didn’t do that. Instead, he moved into his bathroom with his phone, snapping a picture in the mirror of him in the shirt. His hair was still rumpled from bed and the shirt hitched up a little along one hip, showing off the waistline of his boxers and maybe just the tiniest strip of skin. He kept his face neutral, trying to make it look like he  _ wasn’t _ trying. 

Which, of course, was a blatant lie.

He  _ was _ trying. He was trying really hard. So hard, in fact, that he deleted the picture and retook it three separate times. The two sides of his mind were warring with each other again, giving him opposite advice. The self conscious side, the side that liked to read too far into everything was begging him to just delete the photo completely and move on. The romantic side, the one that believed he and Keith were just mere moments away from kissing for real, encouraged him to send it. 

There was one easy way to find out if yesterday had been a fluke, and this was it. If he sent the photo, Keith was either going to outright deny him, or he was going to say something in response that opened the door wider for Lance and showed him that yesterday had been on purpose. He was, of course, hoping for the latter, but he was preparing for the former. All Lance had to do was think of the right message to send with it— something that was  _ flirty _ but not  _ pushy _ . Something that indicated he wanted more with Keith but didn’t beg for it. If he could strike that perfect balance, he would be golden.

So he leaned back against the wall of his bathroom, staring down at the photo on his phone.  _ If _ he came up with the right caption, he’d send it, he reasoned. And if he couldn’t think of anything that fit the bill, he’d delete it and nobody else would ever know it happened. It was the easiest way Lance could come up with to pick which side of his mind to listen to. A lot of different ideas came to his mind, but none of them were just right. They all leaned a little too far one way or another.

Just like it was bad to be pushy, it was bad to be too casual, too. He needed Keith to know that he wanted a continuation of yesterday. He needed Keith to know that he was sitting here, wearing his shirt and wishing it was his fingers on Lance’s skin instead of the fabric. It was really important to him that Keith understood that. Lance just had to figure out how to say that without, well,  _ saying _ that.

He was just about to give up and delete the picture entirely when an idea occurred to him. It was casual, but with just the right amount of implication. It was perfect.

Lance typed frantically on his phone screen, looking at how the caption worked with the photo. Once he was sure it was right— as sure as he could be with his self conscious side screaming nonsensically the entire time—he took a deep breath.

And then— and then he sent it to Keith.

_ [Lance McClain 12:15pm] _

_ [image] _

_ I guess you have to see me again :D _

Lance stared at his phone anxiously the entire time the picture was uploading, waiting until it sent. It was harmless in the grand scheme of things— the picture wasn’t revealing in any way. Honestly, Lance’s face and neck were basically the only visible skin in the photo (he purposely ignored the small strip of tan hip visible). But it was still a big move. It was still a bold step forward and Lance wasn’t sure that he should be taking that step, wasn’t sure he should be pushing against their dynamic already. For the briefest of moments, he worried Keith wouldn’t take it the way he’d intended it to be taken. But the implications of it were clear. At least, in Lance’s mind they were clear. His gut said they were clear, too.

Which, really, is what made this the perfect move. It wasn’t crossing the line, it was standing directly on top of the line. The picture was the exact right sort of brazen that would allow Keith to brush it off and skim over it casually if he were rejecting Lance. But it also offered the right amount of suggestion that would allow Keith to take it a step or two further if that was what he wanted. Still, it didn’t stop Lance from being a nervous wreck as he waited anxiously for a response. 

Luckily, Keith didn’t make him wait long.

_ [Keith Kogane 12:17pm] _

_ You’re right, I do have to see you again _

_ but it’s not because you have my shirt _

Lance took a steadying breath. How was Keith managing to be so vague? Didn’t he understand the pressure Lance was feeling, the anticipation, the  _ anxiety _ ? This could go really well or really poorly. He could be wanting to see Lance again because he wanted to set him straight, to talk to him about what happened yesterday and to explain that it was never going to happen again. Or he could need to see Lance again so that he could finish what they started yesterday, hopefully pressing Lance up against the wall and kissing him soundly.

Lance swallowed as he typed his reply, heart in his throat.

_ [Lance McClain 12:20pm] _

_ No? _

_ Then why do you need to see me again? _

Lance barely got a breath in before Keith’s reply came, stealing the air from his lungs just with its sheer existence. 

_ [Keith Kogane 12:21pm] _

_ Because I want to hang out with you again. _

Holy shit. Lance almost couldn’t breathe. Was this really going the way he wanted it to go? Was Keith really implying— But his good mood quickly plummeted back to neutral when Keith followed it up with another response.

_ Also, I need your help wrapping gifts. _

Oh. So that’s the real truth— Keith needs his help. Leave it to Keith to take something that was so easily suggestive and turn it into something so banal. Leave it to Keith to respond to a photo like that in a way that was neither rejecting nor accepting Lance’s advances. Honestly, Lance hadn’t even thought it was possible for that to be blown by so quickly, but Keith had certainly managed to do it. On one hand, Keith never ceased to amaze Lance. On the other hand, at this exact moment, Lance really wished he would. 

_ [Lance McClain 12:34pm] _

_ Oh, I can help with that. When? _

Lance felt deflated. More than deflated, he felt like all the energy had been sucked right out of him. He sighed, setting his phone down on his bathroom counter and resumed what he had been doing. His heart felt heavy in his chest, like it was sinking down to his feet with every step he took. How was it that yesterday was so perfect and suddenly today he was standing here, worried that Keith was ditching him entirely? Surely these swings couldn’t be healthy.

He knew he couldn’t blame it fully on Keith. He probably couldn’t blame it on Keith at all, really. Everyone was hard to read over text. Plus, Lance’s two sides had been warring all morning. After sending that picture and getting, essentially rejected, his optimistic, love-struck side and quieted down. Now the only one left to listen to was the one that didn’t believe Keith liked him from the start. So of course he was going to feel deflated, feel defeated and like curling up. But Lance knew that he couldn’t do that without seeing Keith first. He could only make a judgement call after he saw Keith in person, really got to talk to him and see his expressions. 

As Lance finally did change, heart still underneath his feet, he considered this. Perhaps it was him. Perhaps he was constantly reading into things too far, too insecure to think of any other explanation. Perhaps Keith was busy, or afraid of admitting something. There were a lot of options that weren’t as straightforward as Keith not feeling anything. A lot of options that didn’t totally invalidate the magical moment they’d shared yesterday. Lance could admit that, could acknowledge that all of these other possibilities existed. But he also couldn’t completely discount the simple idea that Keith wasn’t into him. 

He just couldn’t know.

Lance heard his phone vibrate on the countertop, but he didn’t go look at it immediately. Instead, he finished collecting his clothes and carrying them to the washer and dryer which were, technically, in the kitchen. Not that Lance could complain— he was lucky to have a washer and dryer in his dorm at all. He took his time checking the pockets of each pair of pants and sorting his clothes into different piles before putting the first load in. And then he didn’t really have an excuse not to read Keith’s text other than he simply didn’t want to and that wasn’t fair.

So, he headed back into the bathroom and snagged it off the counter, spinning it around effortlessly in his hand so he could read the text.

_ [Keith Kogane 12:37pm] _

_ I have to meet Shiro and Adam for family stuff in like two hours _

_ So, basically, right now? _

Ah, shit. Lance looked at his phone, flinching to see that 10 minutes had already gone by. 

_ [Lance McClain, 12:49pm] _

_ Oh, shit, yeah. I can hurry up and rush over if you need. _

_ [Keith Kogane 12:49pm] _

_ I’ll be forever grateful if you do. _

So, Lance swallowed down his nerves, swallowed down his questions and his trepidations and he put on his coat and slipped his feet into his shoes, ducking out the door and hustling across campus to Keith’s. The walk was about 7 or 8 minutes which meant, by the time Lance actually got there, they had less than an hour and a half. Part of Lance was relieved, part was disappointed. Already all of Lance was sick of his mixed emotions.

“Thank you,” Keith said the moment Lance opened the door.

It occurred to him belatedly that maybe he should have knocked but clearly it didn’t matter. Keith was sitting on the family room floor with a series of gifts spread out around him, a few of them sitting on bits of wrapping paper that looked like Keith had put them through a paper shredder before trying to wrap with them.

“What the hell’s going on here?” Lance asked, gesturing vaguely to the entire situation as a whole.

“If I knew,” Keith looked up at him with dark, pleading eyes and Lance felt his heart melting, “I would’ve have made you rush over here so quickly.”

A laugh bubbled up and out of Lance’s chest as he dropped down on the floor next to Keith, reaching out and snagging the scissors from his hands. “Okay, first things first: you’re banned from doing anything but taping. And if you mess that up, I’m taking the tape away from you, too.”

Keith glowered at Lance, but the very corners of his lips were tilted up. He didn’t seem awkward, didn’t seem uncomfortable. He didn’t seem like he was two seconds away from setting Lance back in his place and destroying whatever illusion Lance had been living under. 

“Fine,” He conceded after a moment, handing the tube of wrapping paper to Lance. 

Lance crumpled up the disastrous pieces Keith had been trying to use, moving them to the side so he had a clean work space. By no means was Lance an expert wrapper— he saw the videos of the intricate things people did— but he could do basic wrapping and make it look nice and neat. And honestly, compared to what he walked in on, nice and neat was a huge upgrade.

With a shake of the head, Lance began to lay out the paper, measuring how much he needed for the first gift and cutting smoothly, the scissors gliding across the paper so nicely it was like magic. Keith watched for the first few seconds before abruptly standing up and wandering away. Lance quieted his mind as a slew of thoughts immediately flew through it, focusing only on the job at hand. With Keith gone, both the cutting and the taping was left up to Lance. He moved expertly, folding the paper delicately around the box and taping it in exactly three places to hold it together. Once he was done, he flipped it over with a flourish, turning to look for Keith.

“I take it back,” He said as his eyes settled on Keith who was standing in front of the TV with the remote, “You can’t do the taping either. The only thing you get to do is address the labels so people at least  _ think _ you had some part in wrapping them.”

Keith made a disgruntled sort of noise and Lance startled for a moment, thinking he’d said something to hurt Keith’s feelings, but that wasn’t what Keith was upset about. He turned around a moment later, frowning widely at Lance. “It’s the same one we saw before.”

“What?” Lance’s mind was stumbling over the topic change, trying to catch up with the moment at hand.

Keith gestured to the TV with the remote. Lance followed the gesture to realize that Keith had put on the Hallmark channel for him while he worked. “We already saw this one.”

Touched wasn’t strong enough to describe how Lance felt as the situation finally settled in his mind. He couldn’t bite back a grin as he met Keith’s gaze. “You actually watched it last time? After all that complaining?”

“Well yeah,” Keith said, but he averted his gaze and his cheeks were distinctly pink. “I— wanted to stay up for a bit. It seemed like a good thing to help me do that.”

“You wanted to stay up?” Lance echoed, caught so off guard by the sentiment that he had to put down the package he’d been holding up for Keith to see. “Why?”

A moment passed where Keith bristled, but not in an irritated way. He looked like he’d been caught in a sort of trap, like Lance was asking him to reveal something he clearly wasn’t ready to reveal. “I just did.”

“Okay,” Was all Lance said in response. It was clear that he was baffled, but he wasn’t going to press. Because Keith looked uncomfortable and Lance would never ask him to do something he didn’t want to do, just like he suspected Keith would never put him in that sort of position. So he did what he thought Keith wanted him to do— he dropped it.

And then he went back to wrapping gifts.

But, apparently, Keith didn’t want it dropped. Or rather, he seemed to change his mind. No, as Lance looked over at him, he realized that wasn’t the case either. Keith wasn’t continuing their conversation because he wanted to. He was looking straight into Lance’s eyes with a sort of determination that said he was only carrying on because he knew Lance wanted the answer. “You were asleep on my shoulder.”

“Oh,” Lance understood. “So you  _ couldn’t _ sleep.”

“No— well, I mean, I guess yes, that’s right. But I—” Keith scrubbed at his face. Lance didn’t understand after all. Keith took a deep breath and tried again, breaking their eye contact. “You’re right, I couldn’t have fallen asleep like that. But I didn’t want to. It would’ve been easy enough to lay you down and go to bed if I wanted to. But I— I wanted to…” his voice trailed off as he spoke, getting to quiet that the last few words almost didn’t exist at all. “enjoy it.”

“Keith,” Lance breathed, and he was already halfway to standing when Keith leveled him with a pleading gaze.

“Not now,” He said earnestly, begging Lance with his eyes. “Please? I know— we need to talk. We do, definitely. But I have to go in like half an hour and just— can we please not do this right now?”

“Of course,” Lance sat back down. And he felt a little better, actually. A little unsteady, a little unsure, but better. Because, at the very least, Keith wasn’t brushing this under the rug. “I’ll wait until you’re ready.”

“I’m ready,” Keith said, “but I just don’t have time. And I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Lance smiled up at him, hoping it was encouraging. “It’s not a big deal, we’ll get our chance.”

Keith smiled at him then and Lance wondered if he meant they’d get their chance to talk or they’d get their chance to be together. He hoped both were the case. He didn’t say that, though. Instead he resumed wrapping gifts, encouraging Keith to go and change for this event he was attending. Keith left to his room only after one long, lingering smile at Lance. He looked so fond, so full of— Lance shook his head. They weren’t going to do this right now, they’d agreed. There was no point in him trying to decipher Keith’s expression if he wasn’t going to get to do anything with the knowledge.

Lance was nearly done wrapping gifts by the time Keith came back out. He was in a pair of black jeans with a violet button up tucked in and rolled up to the elbows. Lance’s mouth immediately went dry at the sight of him. It amazed Lance how different Keith could look. Sometimes he looked rugged, like you’d find him waiting for you at the end of an alleyway. Sometimes he looked soft and beautiful, like he was just moments from sprouting wings and ascending to heaven. And now he looked— well, he looked hot. Lance didn’t really have another word for it.

The dark color of his shirt and the way his dark hair framed his face made his eyes pop and Lance could feel them piercing into him, waiting for him to say something. Involuntarily, Lance licked his suddenly dry lips, noting the way Keith’s lips quirked up as he noticed the gesture. The shirt fit Keith perfectly, cutting around him at the exact right angles to show off his figure. It was honestly unfair to Lance who had already spent all morning fantasizing about kissing Keith. Now he just had something new to add to his daydream,

“You look….” Lance swallowed again, wishing that his voice could at least  _ try  _ to come out steady, “Incredible.”

“You like it?” Keith asked, slipping his hands into the pickets of his jeans and looking so casual that Lance wanted to combust. 

“Love it,” Lance confirmed with a slight nod of his head. Then, desperate to change the topic before Keith could ask him to elaborate any further, he asked. “What are you going to exactly?”

“Oh,” Keith almost looked sheepish, “It’s Adam’s family Christmas. I’m pretty sure they think I’m actually related to Shiro so they invite me every year. And by now it’s been going on for too long. None of us can correct them.”

There was nothing Lance could do to stop the laugh from coming out. “That’s excellent.”

“It’s awkward,” Keith replied, crossing the room to nudge Lance, “But they’re very nice.”

Lance stood up then and crossed the room to Keith, reaching up to straighten his collar out slightly. Lance smoothed it down, trailing his hands from Keith’s neck down the front of his chest before withdrawing them back to his sides. “Well I’m sure you’ll have fun.”

Keith was looking up at Lance with an expression that was very open. Lance wanted to kiss him so badly and the way Keith kept glancing down at his mouth made Lance think that he probably wanted it, too. At least, Lance hoped he did.

“Right,” Keith said awkwardly, glancing down and rubbing along the back of his neck in discomfort. “Well I really need to go. You can stay here as long as you want, but it’s going to be a really late night so I don’t expect you to wait around for me.”

“I’ve got one more gift to wrap,” Lance said, putting some distance between them and returning to the presents. Keith hadn’t filled out a single label so far so Lance had put sticky notes on each of them with what was inside so Keith could address them at a a later time. He dropped back down to his butt, brandishing the scissors again. “And then I’ll go. I promise I’ll lock the door after I’m gone.”

Keith let out an audible exhale, crossing to where Lance was sitting. “You’re the best,” he murmured, clearly in a little bit of a rush. Still, he crouched down slightly and dropped a kiss to the top of Lance’s head before grabbing a couple of the gifts off the ground and heading towards the door. “Thank you for your help. I’ll text you tomorrow?”

Keith was so distracted in his rush that he barely remembered to pause at the door and wait for Lance’s answer. When Lance confirmed, Keith shot him a smile across the room and then he was practically sprinting out the door. Lance lingered, taking his time with the last present and grinning from ear to ear the entire time.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! A couple quick notes:
> 
> 1\. This has not been proof read. At all. I'm beyond exhausted and it took everything in me just to finish writing it. So I'm sorry in advanced if it's messy.  
> 2\. I got my ass absolutely kicked this week by work. I'm burnt out, I'm exhausted, I'm running on less than fumes. I've used up my whole buffer. So tomorrow I will be writing the chapter that I need to post tomorrow. Which means that I might fall a little behind in my posting schedule. I am going to try my absolute damndest to prevent that. I'm going to work really heard and I'm going to kick my exhaustion in the ass.
> 
> In short, I'm sorry. And I'm struggling. This chapter is shorter than the others and I apologize for that, too. Basically I'm just sorry in general.

If Lance had looked at the weather before going to bed last night, he would’ve known that it was supposed to snow. Not just snow but snow  _ a lot _ . The kind of snow that made the world slow down, the kind that pushed the pause button on daily life. It was Lance’s favorite kind of snow. But, Lance didn’t look at the weather before he went to bed last night. Instead, he went home from Keith’s still sporting that happy grin and curled up under a blanket to enjoy his night. (He also might have put Keith’s hoodie back on). And then, suddenly, it was the next day and there was at least 8 inches of fresh powder on the ground.

Which could only mean one thing.

_ [Hunky Boy 9:39am] _

_ Diag by 11? _

Lance saw the text as soon as he woke up and he didn’t even need to look outside to know that it had snowed. He did anyways, of course, nearly jumping for joy when he saw how much snow was piled outside. It was the good kind of snow, too. The dense, wet kind of snow that made for the best outdoor activities. The students on campus had a tradition— whenever it snowed like this, everyone showed up at the diag together and built snowmen. Nobody knew when or how the tradition started because it was wholly unspoken. But every new class that joined the school knew and sure enough, on the first snowfall of every year, the entire campus would show up. 

Lance couldn’t say how he’d found out about the tradition, either. He just knew that he had been to the Diag for every snowfall that he had been on campus for. It was honestly one of Lance’s favorite things.

Lance texted Hunk back to confirm that he would be there before switching out of that conversation and into one with Keith. He knew Keith had said that he would text Lance, but Lance didn’t want to wait. After that kiss on the top of the head, he was pretty sure it was alright for him to make the first move. Lance felt giddy just remembering that moment, thinking of the way Keith said he was ready to talk. All of that combined made Lance feel confident that they were likely going to hanging out today— and a lot of days in the future— so he didn’t even hesitate to invite Keith. He couldn’t help but smile to himself as he typed away on his phone.

_ [Lance McClain 9:51am] _

_ Diag at 11 with Hunk. You’ll be there, right? _

Hunk and Keith knew each other vaguely. They had shared a lecture or two together in their first few semesters of college, but they’d always been in huge lecture halls so the two of them had never really become close friends. Of course, Keith was one of those people that pretty much everyone knew, and Hunk was definitely included in that. Conversely, Hunk was Lance’s best friend so he wasn’t almost always around whenever Lance passed Keith on campus or ran into him in one of the hallways. So they didn’t  _ know  _ each other but they definitely knew  _ of  _ each other and Lance knew that would be more than enough. So, Lance knew Hunk would be thrilled, elated,  _ over the moon _ to know that Lance had invited Keith. And Keith would, Lance assumed, be more than happy to come along.

_ [Keith Kogane 9:56am] _

_ I wouldn’t miss it _

Lance couldn’t stop his smile from growing as he read the text. Lance hadn’t told Hunk about them yet and he wasn’t sure just showing up with Keith was the best way to break the news. At the same time, he and Keith still hadn’t talked and determined anything officially so there was no other way to break the news. More than that, there was no real news to break. But the idea of showing up and admitting that Keith was there because of him, Keith was there  _ for _ him, made Lance feel so giddy that he almost couldn’t contain himself. It was so easy for Lance to picture Hunk’s smile. It would be somewhere between knowing and smug because Hunk had been teasing Lance about this crush for months, no matter how hard Lance had denied it.

Hunk’s teasing would be good-natured, of course. And definitely in private, after the fact. Because Hunk was the kindest person Lance had ever met. So, while he knew that Hunk would never let him live it down, he was certain that Hunk wouldn’t bring it up in front of Keith. Hunk would never do anything to purposely embarrass Lance. And, honestly, Hunk’s teasing wouldn’t even Ben that good. He was pretty terrible at making fun of people. He would come off too excited for there to be any bite to it. In fact, it would sound more like he was congratulating Lance instead of making fun of him. God, Lance loved Hunk so much. He almost looked forward to the moment they were alone and Hunk’s excitement bubbled over. 

It took all the effort Lance could muster to keep himself on track and just get through the hour until he had to leave to meet them. All he wanted to do was bound through the doors and sprint to the Diag. The excitement was in the air all throughout campus and it was palpable, even inside Lance’s dorm. It was hard enough to stop himself from glancing at his phone every few minutes so he busied himself with a shower and digging out his warmest winter clothes. And then he cooked himself breakfast, ate it slowly and washed the dishes, dragging each part of it out as long as he could. Finally enough time had passed that Lance was able to change clothes and start walking to the Diag.

Strictly speaking, Lance did have a car. But it almost never left his parking spot. Parking on campus was such a nightmare as it was, and it would only be tripled with the snow. So Lance didn’t even consider grabbing his car keys as he headed out the door, locking it before moving down the hallway and towards the exit. With each step he took, the magic in the atmosphere seemed to grow stronger. It settled around him, tickling his skin and the hair at the base of his neck. The air was cold outside, immediately biting at Lance’s cheeks and the tip of his nose— the only exposed parts of his skin. He would probably be cold if he weren’t hustling to the diag, but he was— practically running through the tall boughs of snow, bounding with energy and excitement.

It didn’t take too long for Lance to get to the diag, but he started seeing students headed that way from almost the moment he was outside of his dorm. There was laughter filling the air, people shouting back and forth and snowballs flying. It was the sort of perfect snow day that Lance had always wished for while he was younger and in school. Lance’s heart was light as he trudged through the snow, taking a hit from a stray snowball once or twice. The students who had thrown it all apologized to him, but Lance had laughed it off. It didn’t matter to him in the least. In fact, it kind of made him giddy. There was just something so— so  _ magical _ about these sorts of days. Lance hoped, to the very core of his being, that Keith would be able to feel it, too.

In almost no time the Diag was in his sights and it was  _ packed _ with people. Honestly the whole thing looked like a maze. It was so loud that Lance knew he wouldn’t be able to hear anyone if he spoke to them. In fact, it was so loud that Lance couldn’t really distinguish anything that was being said at all, by anyone. Some snowmen were already built, some in the process of being built. Lance had to weave through throngs of people, glancing every which way to try and locate any of his friends. It took a few minutes before he spotted Keith on the outskirts, near one of the buildings. Lance would’ve called to him if there’d been any hope that he’d hear, but there were so many people that it’d be impossible. 

So, Lance simply hustled to him, as fast as he possibly could through the snow. He moved easier now that he was at the Diag, in snow that had been trampled down by other people. Keith was glancing around the area as Lance approached, only noticing him when Lance was a few feet away. He was also weaving around people and finding a direct path to him was incredibly hard for Lance. Eventually he made it close enough to catch Keith’s eye and then they worked together to meet in the middle. The smile that broke out on his face was so warm that Lance’s heart stuttered in his chest and his steps actually faltered a little.

“Hey,” Keith said and Lance’s steps did finally come to a screeching halt as Keith took a few bold steps towards him, immediately snaking one hand around his waist and pulling Lance flush against his chest.

Lance couldn’t breathe, but he didn’t care. He never wanted to breathe again if breathing meant being outside of Keith’s arms. He would give up damn near anything to be in this moment for the rest of his life, “Hey yourself.”

And then Keith’s other arm was starting to reach around him and the tiny distance in between them was somehow growing smaller. Both of Keith’s hand were firm on the small of Lance’s back and his chest was a firm press against Lance’s. Lance still wasn’t breathing, but he was anticipating. Oh god, his whole body was alight with anticipation, it sizzled under his skin making him feel alive. They got closer, and then closer still. Lance’s blood was singing.

“Lance!” Hunk dashed up to them then, clapping Lance on the shoulder and successfully dislodging him from Keith’s arms. Keith, for his part, stepped back smoothly and quickly, playing it off like they hadn’t just been pressed together. His expression didn’t betray any of his thoughts— it was a completely unreadable and unbothered. “Keith, you’re here, too! Great to see you man!”

“It’s nice to see you, too,” Keith replied warmly, his smile never faltering. He didn’t glance at Lance out of the corner of his eye but Lance could still feel the disappointment mirrored in his own heart. Something about that made him feel warm inside, made him feel complete. He knew he shouldn’t feel good about that, knew he should be upset that Keith was upset, but he wasn’t. Because it meant that Keith cared and Lance was still reeling with that knowledge. Well, not  _ knowledge _ , but  _ assumption _ . Because nothing was a fact. 

Well, okay, that wasn’t strictly true either. There were a few facts. For instance, the first fact was that Lance had a massive crush on Keith. That was definitely a solid, indisputable fact. Another fact was that Keith looked fucking gorgeous standing across from Lance right now, long ends of his hair poking out his beanie and hands shoved casually in his pockets. But outside of things like that, there weren’t any facts. How Keith felt and what Keith wanted were  _ assumptions _ on Lance’s part. He had a lot of evidence to back up his ideas, that was for sure. But until he heard it directly from Keith’s mouth, they were just ideas and Lance reminded himself of that firmly. 

“Pidge should be on her way,” Hunk continued the conversation as if there wasn’t a giant unspoken topic hanging in the air between all of them. He met both Lance and Keith’s eyes with such a casual nature that Lance almost wondered if Hunk hadn’t seen them together. Which was, honestly, impossible. With all the people in the area, Hunk would’ve had to have eyes on them awhile before he made it to them. Their moment was short-lived, definitely, but long enough that Hunk would’ve been able to see if he knew where they were. “And once she’s here, we can start.”

“What about Allura?” Lance asked, doing his best to pretend that his heart wasn’t currently jack hammering in his chest. There was a knowing edge to the curl of Hunk’s returning smile and it felt like he was doing his best to avoid looking between Lance and Keith. Lance pressed on quickly before Hunk had the chance to say or do anything suggestive. Even though Lance was absolutely, absolutely,  _ absolutely _ certain that Hunk would never say something like that. Lance’s nerves were already fried and his sanity was hanging on by a thin thread. The anticipation was eating away at him, constantly, restlessly. There was nothing he could do to get it to settle down. So even though he knew Hunk would  _ never _ , he still didn’t even want to take the chance. “Has anyone texted her?”

“I did,” Hunk confirmed, glancing briefly at Keith just so he’d be included in the conversation. Lance’s heart swelled at how generous Hunk was, how friendly and outgoing. If there was anyone in the world who could navigate a situation like this with expert ease, it was Hunk and Lance was grateful that he was here. He’d no doubt be calling Hunk up tonight to finally talk about it all, going over every gesture, every expression in excruciating detail to see what Hunk thought of everything. “But she already went home for Christmas. Her uncle is in town.”

"Oh, Coran came in early?” Lance pressed on with the conversation because he didn’t know what else to do. Because all he wanted to do was step closer to Keith and allow himself to curl up in his arms again. But this was not an appropriate time for that.

“I see Pidge!” Keith piped in suddenly, pointing over Hunk’s shoulder.

Lance strained to look where Keith was pointing, but he didn’t see Pidge right away. Lance didn’t know Pidge super well, but he loved her. And he especially loved to tease her about being short which was incredibly pertinent in this situation. Keith’s eyes were trained on somebody, though, and the way Hunk smiled indicated that he could see her, too. Lance tried going up on his tiptoes, but he still couldn’t figure out who they were looking at until she was almost to them. Her hair was barely visible under her hat but her large glasses were still perched on her nose.

“Hey guys,” She said as she reached them, turning to Keith specifically and bumping fists with him easily. “Didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Didn’t know you participated in social activities” Keith responded in kind, smiling broadly at Pidge when she rolled her eyes with a huff and crossed her arms over her chest. 

Both Hunk and Lance were glancing between the two of them with equally confused expressions. Pidge and Keith were sharing an amused expression while they waited for the question to arise. A beat passed, and then two.

Finally, Hunk gave in and asked the one thing they were both clearly wondering. “You two know each other?”

Keith glanced at Pidge again, clearly pinning her with the responsibility of answering. “We went to high school together and have had plenty of our gen eds together, too.”

“You went to high school with Keith?” Lance demanded immediately, leaning in closer to Pidge. “What was he like? Was he a total loser?”

Keith shoved Lance but Pidge met his eyes with an amused gaze. “Are you implying he’s not a loser now?”

“Wow,” Keith replied, glare shifting between both of them. “I could just leave, you know?”

“You could,” Pidge started.

Lance chimed in, finishing for her “But you won’t!”

A moment passed before Keith sighed, rolling his eyes and slumping his shoulders. It was clear that he never intended to leave in the first place but it still made Lance smile. Finally, Hunk corralled them together, finally insisting that they begin their snowman building. It took a few minutes and everyone throwing a few more jabs at each other before they were finally able to get moving.

Everyone worked relatively silently, but diligently. The most they spoke was when one of them tried to steal the snow the other was planning on using. Which, mostly, was just Lance and Keith going back and forth. At one point, Lance challenged Keith to see who could make the biggest snowman, smiling when a competitive twinkle showed up in Keith’s eye in response. 

From there it became a sort of race. Lance made the lower part of his snowman so large that he almost couldn’t lift the middle part up. And, by the time it came to putting the head on, the snowman was so tall that Lance almost couldn’t reach. He did reach in the end, though, and was just about to turn a gloating smile on Keith when he realized that Keith’s snowman was, essentially, exactly the same size as his.

Vaguely Lance thought he should be upset by this. Or, at the very least, it should fan the competitive flames inside him, driving him to make his snowman bigger. What it actually did, though, was cause him to burst out laughing, doubling over on himself, shoulders shaking. Keith watched him for a few moments, his lips caught in the gist of a surprised smile. There was something about his expression that Lance could feel in the very depth of his soul. 

At first, he didn’t know what to call it. But the longer he looked at Keith, the longer Keith watched him laugh, Lance realized exactly what it was: disbelief. It looked as if Keith couldn’t believe this was his life and Lance understood that feeling completely. He couldn’t believe this was his life either, couldn’t believe that he was here with his friends and his crush. He couldn’t believe that Keith was staring at him with this expression, couldn’t believe that his shoulders were starting to shake with his own laughter.

It wasn’t the first time in the last couple of days that Lance thought about how lucky he was, how unreal this whole situation seemed. He almost thought it was a dream. In fact, he would believe it was a dream if his dreams didn’t tend to go a little further than this. Not that he wanted it to be a dream. He was perfectly content for it to be real life, for him to have the chance to keep having these sorts of moments with Keith.

Lance wanted all of it, everything. He wanted to laugh with Keith, to curl up under a blanket with him. He wanted to keep falling asleep in Keith’s shirts, with his head on Keith’s shoulder. He wanted to feel the press of Keith’s fingertips again— on his back, his face, anywhere and everywhere Keith was willing to trail them.

And right now, with the way Keith was looking at him, Lance wanted to kiss him. 

He really wanted to kiss Keith. 

God, he wanted to kiss Keith so bad it was like a physical ache, a bone-deep sort of hurt to know that he had to restrain himself from it.

Their laughter died almost abruptly, but their gazes didn’t disconnect. The tension between them intensified, growing until it was palpable. Lance could feel the pull, like a magnetic draw, begging him to close the distance between them. Finally, almost painfully, Lance blinked and then looked away. It took all the strength he had, but he knew it needed to be done. Hunk and Pidge were still building their snowmen, being decent friends and pretending not to notice the desire that could easily be cut with a knife.

“I think,” Lance began, and his voice was thick with unspoken emotion “It’s time we dress them up. And get them some arms.”

“Yes, well, while you two were busy being idiots,” Pidge chimed in easily, “I went and got branches for the arms. And Hunk brought all the hats and stuff.” 

Lance accepted the offered branches gratefully, handing two of them to Keith. He focused all of his energy on dressing his snowman, winding the scarf intricately around his neck and making sure the buttons were spaced perfectly. Once he was finally done, he stepped back to admire his handiwork, smiling to himself when he noticed that he and Keith had built their snowman so close together that their arms were touching.

“They’re holding hands,” Lance murmured, just loudly enough for Keith to be able to hear over the crowds.

“Yes,” Leith replied just as quietly, taking a small step closer to Lance and slipping his hand secretly into Lance’s, “They are.”

And even though they had to separate a moment later, tucking their hands into their pockets to pretend they weren’t just holding hands, even though they didn’t get any alone time for the rest of the day, Lance was happy. He was happy and content and willing to wait if the world needed him to wait. What mattered was that Keith was here and Keith was smiling at him warmly. For today, that was enough. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The lights were off when the four of them walked in. And, okay, yeah, that’s probably because the kitchen was closed and they definitely weren’t supposed to be there. But in reality, what harm was there in the four of them borrowing it to bake a few cookies? The four of them, of course, being Lance, Keith, Hunk and Hunk’s crush, Shay. It could almost be called a double date except that literally none of the. We’re dating. So it was a double almost-date because the truth was that they  _ should  _ be dating, even if they weren’t. Either way, it had the same atmosphere: full of nervous energy and anxious anticipation. It made Lance feel giddy.

Surprisingly enough, it had been Hunk’s idea. Last night, after the snowmen, after they had all gone their separate ways, Hunk had barged his way into Lance’s dorm, sat himself down on the couch and refused to leave until Lance told him everything. Which, to be fair, Lance was chomping at the bit to do. So, Lance has sat down opposite him and spilled the beans. From the way Shiro had essentially dared him to just say hi to Keith to the way they were holding hands just mere feet away from Hunk a few hours prior. He talked and Hunk listened patiently like the good friend he was, only interrupting once or twice when Lance said something that Hunk just  _ had  _ to exclaim about. 

As Lance had expected, Hunk nearly leapt out of his skin in joy. He’d grabbed Lance by the shoulders, shaking him slightly as he went on and on about how he knew it, how he’d always seen it in Keith’s eyes. Lance didn’t believe that was exactly true, but he wasn’t going to burst Hunk’s bubble. Not that it mattered anyways. Whether or not Hunk had seen those things didn’t change what was currently happening. 

It had taken a while for Lance to calm Hunk down and even then Hunk couldn’t have been considered  _ calm _ . But, he had at least released Lance’s shoulders and sat quietly when Lance’s mom had called. She was confirming their plans to go caroling in two nights and asking Lance to help out by making some cookies to deliver to their neighbors. Lance had agreed and hung up before he remembered that his dorm did not have a kitchen. In fact, he didn’t have access to one at all unless he went home which would do no good. His mom had been asking him to help because she was already making as much as she could handle. Which meant, of course, that the home kitchen was definitely in use. 

It was then that the idea had occurred to Hunk. It was honestly brilliant, although a little shady. But it wasn’t strictly crossing the line, just toeing it, and Lance was okay with that. Hunk was a culinary student— the best of the best at their school— and he had been entrusted with a key to the school kitchens. So, them using it over break while the kitchens were otherwise shut down wasn’t exactly against the rules, but Lance didn’t think the university officials would be thrilled to hear about it either, if they ever did. 

Of course, they didn’t plan on the campus officials ever finding out.

Hunk had insisted that Lance invite Keith, but Lance had countered by saying he’d only do that if Hunk brought Shay. They’d taken turns calling their crushes and it made Lance feel like he was in high school all over again which was both ridiculous and kind of fun. There was something nostalgic about it, something soft and wonderful that he loved. He had to cover his mouth to stifle his excitement while Hunk was on the phone, doing his best not to dissolve into a fit of nearly delusional giggles. Regardless, both Keith and Shay had agreed. Keith, unsurprisingly, had no qualms whatsoever with the dubious nature of the plan. Shay had been a little more hesitant but had, ultimately, said yes. 

And that was how the four of them ended up standing in the giant university kitchen. Honestly it was built for at least fifty workers, so it seemed vast around them. Hunk, though, was completely at ease, expertly moving around and flipping on lights. Lance stood next to Keith, their fingers brushing, an electric shock jolting up Lance’s arm at the contact. He glanced sideways at Keith to send him a smile and found Keith sporting a faint dusting of pink across his cheeks. 

Lance’s heart flipped in his chest. 

He thought back to everything he had told Hunk, to all the things he and Keith had already done. A week and a half ago he was afraid to talk to Keith. Now, he was standing in the middle of an abandoned kitchen with his fingers intertwining just the faintest amount with Keith’s, wishing he could do more. A week and a half ago he probably still would’ve said yes to doing more with Keith, but he would’ve assumed it meant nothing. A one-off. Something with no strings attached. But now everything felt like it meant something. Every move, every word, every look felt like it meant  _ everything _ . There as an unspoken conversation in the electricity between them and Lance absolutely loved it with every fiber of his being.

“Okay,” Hunk moved on with continued ease, beginning to pull out ingredients, mixing bowls, utensils and anything else they could need, stacking them on two different counters. “We should have everything we need here already.”

Even if nobody was here, it was still a university kitchen which meant that it was packed to the brim, whether the ingredients were in immediate use or not.

“Great!” Lance stepped forward, immediately missing the contact he had with Keith, even if it had been tiny. “I’ve got my mom’s recipe, so that’s what we’re making. Will you preheat the oven for me?”

“You don’t know how to work an oven?” Keith teased as he moved to stand next to Lance at one of the long, metal islands. “Surely even you can handle that.”

“Those ovens have, like, thirty-seven buttons!” Lance protested, “If you’re so confident that they’re so easy to use, you go turn it on.”

Keith glanced at the oven, his smug smile falling as he did so. Lance couldn’t help but smile triumphantly back at him as Keith returned his gaze and stumbled over his response. “Well, you know, Hunk is the one in charge so it’s best to just let him do everything, you know?”

Lance leaned a little closer, and then closer still. The only one who didn’t know about their situation was Shay and honestly Lance didn’t even know if that was true. It was very possible that Hunk had already told her. “I knew it.”

Hunk laughed behind them and crossed the kitchen, clicking a series of buttons on the ovens. Almost immediately the ovens came to life, whirring and clicking as they began to heat up. Lance reached into his pocket to pull out the copy of his mom’s cookie recipe that he’d been keeping in his dorm since the day he moved in. It was his favorite of her cookies, and so he hadn’t been willing to live on his own without having a copy of it. It was his first time making it independently, though. Well, it was his first time making it without his mom. 

Keith leaned over Lance’s shoulder to read the recipe, his chin grazing Lance and sending a shiver down his spine. Keith laughed as Lance shivered, his breath soft and warm on Lance’s neck. Lance didn’t even try to stop himself from pressing back into Keith, from feeling the firm press of him, the warmth of his whole body. Keith had discarded his jacket at some point so there was just the fabric of their two shirts separating their skin. Lance’s whole body was wide awake. 

A moment later, Keith’s hand found Lance’s hip, his index finger just brushing under the hem of Lance’s shirt against the skin of his hip. Lance was positively on fire. “Sugar cookies?”

“Yeah!” Lance exhaled shakily, leaning more of his weight into Keith. “My mom’s recipe is the best. You’re going to love them. And, I will take it as a sign of personal offense if you don’t eat some of the dough before it’s cooked.”

“And get salmonella?” Keith nestled his chin onto Lance’s shoulder. “I see how much I mean to you.”

“Salmonella is absolutely a worthwhile death,” Lance replied, placing the recipe on the counter. “I won’t even feel bad for you, you’ll die happy.”

“Wow,” Lance didn’t think he’d ever get used to being able to feel Keith’s words as a gentle breath against his skin. He wanted to keep experiencing it, though, to find out if he could. “So I shouldn’t feel bad for you either? You know, if you die for salmonella.”

“Oh,” Lance smiled, “Definitely not. But I have years of practice eating this dough so I’m pretty sure I’m immune.”

“I don’t think you can become immune to salmonella.” Keith countered.

Lance didn’t even hesitate, “But you don’t  _ know _ .” A small noise in the back of his throat was all Keith made to acknowledge Lance’s point, so Lance pressed on. “We have to make, like, five dozen of these, though. We’re handing them out to the neighbors tomorrow.”

“Well then we better get started on making them!” Keith murmured into Lance’s neck a moment before pressing a gentle kiss there. After that he reluctantly began to pull away, pausing to make sure that Lance was supporting his own weight. “What’s first?”

It took Lance a moment to feel steady without Keith, but eventually he did and began explaining the recipe.The skin on his neck tingled the whole time, the imprint of Keith’s lips forever burned there. Lance explained to him the way sugar cookie dough needed to chill, and how they were going to use that time to make icing. Keith listened diligently, taking direction as Lance gave it to him. 

They each took their own mixing bowl, Keith mirroring everything Lance did. Lance spread the ingredients and the measuring utensils out between the two of them, putting the recipe in the dead center. There were a lot of things Lance wanted to say, but he swallowed all of them down. For the time being, he just needed to get through making the cookies. He needed— 

“Oh,” Keith said suddenly, drawing Lance’s attention.

“Did you—?” Lance smiled a little to himself, “Did you just get flour on yourself?  _ How _ did you even manage that, we haven’t gotten to that part yet?”

It was true, they’d only managed to make their way through the butter and sugar. Flour was next on their list, but Lance certainly hadn’t begun scooping it yet, which meant that Keith hadn’t either.

“I don’t know?” Keith said, looking up at him. It looked like he had opened the bag of flour and a puff of it had come out, dusting his bangs and the tip of his nose in white. It was, actually, incredibly adorable.

Lance reached out to swipe the flour off of Keith’s nose, flipping his hand around to show it to Keith. “Honestly, you’re a mess.”

“At least it’s not glitter this time,” Keith remarked and Lance flushed a little, remembering the moment Keith was referring to.

“I don’t know,” he said after a moment, “I think the glitter suited you better.”

Keith swatted at him then and Lance retreated, laughing. He pulled the back of flour over to the middle, pointedly looking at Keith as he scooped some of the flour out carefully, successfully managing to get none of it on himself. Keith glowered at him, but the amusement was still clear in his eyes so Lance didn’t stop.

“I used to make these every year with my mom and siblings,” Lance changed the subject as he watched Keith scoop his own flour.

“You and your family have a lot of traditions, don’t you?” Keith asked. There was an unnamed emotion behind his question. It wasn’t exactly bitterness or jealousy, but it was somewhere in that ballpark. Lance could understand that completely, though. From his understanding, any of the traditions of memories Keith had came from Shiro and his family. He got the impression that Keith’s parents were great, loving parents, but that they were also busy. So he could easily imagine why Keith would be a little jealous, a little sad to see the family life that Lance led.

“Yes,” Lance softened his voice, glancing up through his eyelashes at Keith. Keith appeared to catch his breath and Lance was reminded of the times that Keith had looked at him in the same way. He remembered his first and most overwhelming thought being of how beautiful Keith was. He wondered if Keith was thinking something similar about him now. His heart fluttered at the thought, his own breath catching. “And you’ve joined in on almost all of them now, so they’re your traditions, too.”

Keith paused with the measuring cup of flower over his bowl, eyes seeking Lance and mouth parted in wonder. “They are?”

Lance’s heart ached in his chest. He couldn’t believe that this would mean so much to Keith, that Lance could give him something he appeared to always want. Not for the first time, Lance wondered how it was possible for Keith to have grown up the way he did. Lance still, even after trying multiple times, couldn’t imagine what it was like to grow up in a family that wasn’t bursting at the seams with traditions and strong bonds. He couldn’t imagine not being able to go to his family with absolutely anything. His family was the foundation that Lance had built the rest of his life on, and if he could offer even a small amount of that to Keith, he would do so in a heartbeat.

“Of course,” Lance replied, almost surprised at Keith’s surprise. “You’re welcome to join me and my family for all of these traditions for, well, ever.”

“Forever?” Keith echoed, clearly getting his shock under control. His lips quirked up into a smile. “Even if we have some tragic, horrible break up?”

This time it was Lance’s turn to be surprised. He turned his body all the way to face Keith. Faintly he could hear Hunk and Shay talking at their counter, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. Not that it mattered, he didn’t want to know what they were saying. It just meant that they couldn’t hear his conversation with Keith, either. 

“Once you’re a part of my family, you never get to leave.” Lance began, licking his lips. “And also, I’m fairly certain that we can’t have some terrible breakup without dating first.”

The smile was still on Keith’s lips, but it grew a little shy. He glanced away just for a brief moment, his shoulders visibly rising with the deep breath that he took. “Yeah, about that. I—“

“Do you guys have—“ Shay’s voice cut through the tension suddenly. Lance startled, glancing over at her. She was on the other side of their metal island, leaning over to examine the ingredients in front of them, almost paying them no actual mind. “Aha! Right here, thank you!”

She snagged the butter off of the counter and retreated to her side of the kitchen. Lance watched her go, briefly making eye contact with Hunk who was staring apologetically across the room at him. At least someone understood. Lance took in a deep breath, holding it to try and get himself under control. Keith wasn’t looking at Lance, he wasn’t looking at Hunk or at Shay. Out of his periphery, it appeared like he was just staring down at the counter, almost dejected.

“Okay,” Lance exhaled, “I’m putting an official ban on that topic until we’re completely alone. There’s only so many times I can tolerate this conversation being interrupted. I’m going to have to headbutt the next person who gets in our way!”

“Headbutt, really?” Keith shook his head, but his shoulders were shaking with laughter. It helped ease Lance’s frustration a little bit. “I think that’s a little extreme.” 

“No, no, I think it’s exactly right.” Lance nodded in affirmation of his own statement. 

“You know, there’s another way to handle the problem,” Keith tried to reason, finally looking at Lance. “One that doesn’t involve headbutting people.”

“Well it’s not a very fun option then.” Lance finally sighed and gave in, propping his hip against the island. Keith still looked a little let down, a little frustrated, but he controlled it well. “But I’m listening.”

“Okay,” Keith smiled, and it mostly reached his eyes. “Hear me out. All you have to do is talk really fast. That way nobody can interrupt you.”

“What—?” Lance started to laugh but it was cut off a moment later by Keith’s hand finding his where it rested on the countertop.

Keith took a deep breath and then dove in, speaking so quickly that it was almost incoherent, but not quite. “Lance, I really like you and these past few days have been great. And I would really like it if you’d be my— be my—“

Lance flipped his hand upside down in Keith’s squeezing it to give him encouragement. The world shrank around them until it disappeared completely and it was just the two of them, standing in the kitchen, connected by their hands. No matter what Lance did, he couldn’t stop looking at Keith. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. All he could do was wait with baited breath for Keith to finish what he was saying. “Your?”

“Boyfriend,” Keith finished, nearly deflating in on himself. 

Keith wasn’t looking at Lance anymore which meant that he couldn’t see the huge smile Lance was sporting. It meant that he couldn’t tell that Lance was practically vibrating in excitement, every nerve ending in his body completely on fire. Keith wasn’t looking at Lance, but he was still holding Lance’s hand. And he was biting the corner of his lip in what looked like anticipation— and a little bit of nervousness. 

It took Lance a long moment to be able to collect himself. He was certain that the moment had to be eons long for Keith, scraping on his nerves and making him worry. Lance could only imagine that would be how he’d feel if their roles were reversed. But he  _ needed _ that moment to himself because he needed to gather his voice. It was only after a couple deep breaths that Lance felt steady enough to talk which, truthfully, wasn’t that steady overall. His heart was still running back to back marathons in his chest and his knees were definitely considering buckling underneath him. But his voice was back and that was all he needed to respond. 

“Yes,” Lance breathed and Keith snapped his head up immediately. “I would love to be your boyfriend.”

“You would?” Keith’s eyes were blown wide, a smile paused on his lips, like he was waiting for permission to smile completely. 

“Are you kidding?” Lance couldn’t help but laugh. He didn’t think his heart had ever felt lighter, didn’t think it was possible for it to ever feel lighter in the future. He laughed loudly and warmly, curling forward to rest his head on Keith’s shoulder. He knew Hunk and Shay were looking at them now, he could feel their gazes burning into him. “Why on Earth would I say no?”

“I— I don’t know?” Lance could feel Keith’s free hand ghost across his back as if he were too disbelieving to commit to the motion. His answer was a question and he was frozen beneath Lance in a stunned trance. But he was still there, underneath Lance. He was there, holding Lance’s hand. And most importantly, he was there, asking Lance to be his boyfriend.

“What’s going on over there?” Hunk called across the kitchen. “You look like you broke Keith.”

“I think I might have,” Lance agreed as he pulled away finally. Keith was grinning so big that it was nearly splitting his face, glancing between Lance’s eyes to try and read him better. He still wasn’t moving, his expression still disbelieving. There wasn’t another word Lance could think of to describe it.

“What did you do?” Hunk asked and Lance didn’t have to look up to know that he was crossing the room to join them. 

“I,” Lance turned away from Keith then, meeting Hunk’s anticipatory gaze directly. “Agreed to be his boyfriend.”

“You did?” Hunk was instantly smiling almost as big as Keith. Over his shoulder, Shay was covering her mouth but her joy was clear in her eyes.

“He agreed to be my boyfriend,” Keith echoed. “Holy shit, you agreed to be my boyfriend!”

The next few things happened very quickly. So quickly that Lance didn’t even have time to register them until they were all over. One second, Lance was standing next to the island, his hand in Keith’s. The next, he and Keith were both enveloped in a bone-crushing hug from Hunk. A moment after that! Shay was joining in too and all of them were yelling and laughing breathlessly, equally sharing in the elation of the situation. Lance had no idea when Hunk had come around the counter but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was living in this moment with his best friends and his boyfriend. 

_ His boyfriend _ .

Holy shit, Keith Kogane was his boyfriend. 

Lance was dangerously close to finding out just how lame it would be for him to cry in this situation. 

It was a few more moments before Hunk and Shay broke apart. Keith and Lance did not break apart, though. They stayed wrapped up in each other and their mutual disbelief and excitement. They stayed wrapped up in each other because that’s where they both wanted to be and where they both belonged. They stayed wrapped up in each other because they were boyfriends and they could. 

They were boyfriends.

Lance’s mind was repeating that back to him over and over again, the word running through his mind as fast as his blood was pumping through his body. They were boyfriends and suddenly Lance had everything he could’ve ever wanted for Christmas. He didn’t need to open a single gift because the one thing he wanted most was looking back at him with such a warm gaze that Lance melted underneath it. This was the single best Christmas of Lance’s life.

“Okay,” Hunk took a deep breath, “we still have cookies to bake and so do you. So keep it together and no kissing where I can see!”

“Hunk!” Lance exclaimed.

“No kissing!” Hunk repeated.

It was clear that he was kidding, but Lance was inclined to obey. Not because he didn’t want to kiss Keith— oh god did he ever— but because he wanted their first kiss to be special and to be  _ theirs _ . Which meant that he wanted it to happen without prying eyes on them from across the room. Judging by the look on Keith’s face, he felt similarly, so they let the topic drop and moved back to making cookies. 

It was beyond hard to focus, but Lance knew that he really did need to make these cookies. So, after a few blunders, a few incorrect measurements and a fairly long flour fight in which Lance and Keith both ended up essentially white from head to toe, they managed to put trays of cookies in the oven. They had, somehow, successfully made icing while the dough was chilling and Lance had only broken Keith one more time— when he’d wiped a bit of icing off of Keith’s cheek and popped the icing covered finger in his mouth to taste it himself.

Keith had, as instructed, eaten an adequate amount of dough before it went into the oven and was more than willing to rant and rave about the taste of it. He was quickly to agree with Lance that death by salmonella was worth it as long as it was this dough that he was getting the salmonella from. Lance’s heart continued to be filled so high that it overflowed into everything he did. His mom had always said that the secret ingredient for these cookies was love and Lance had more than enough of that to spare. He was pouring love into every measurement, every cut, every single moment. He loved making the cookies and he loved the people he was making them with and he was certain that this was going to make them the best tasting cookies of all time.

Lance turned to look back at Keith then, laughing at the smudges of white streaming his cheeks and the clumps of flour in his hair. He looked at Keith and thought—not for the first time and certainly not for the last time, either— that he was beautiful. Because he was beautiful. He was beautiful in his rough edges, beautiful in the way that he was rugged and coarse. He was beautiful because he was kind and caring, because his laugh could light up the whole room. Keith was beautiful because he was everything Lance had ever wanted and more, wrapped up in one physically attractive package that was staring back at him warmly.

Keith met his gaze, watching as Lance wet his thumb in his own mouth. Keith watched him and didn’t pull away as Lance extended his wet thumb, closing the space between them and swiping it across his cheek to get rid of some of the flour there. 

Keith watched Lance with bright, warm eyes and Lance wanted so badly to kiss him.

But he didn’t. And he wouldn’t. Not today, even if he wanted to.

He wouldn’t. Despite the fact that he definitely wanted to.

The cookies came out of the oven and Lance was able to drown his desire in decorations, laughing occasionally at how one of the cookies had turned misshapen in the oven. He buried his desire down under layers of icing and sprinkles and didn’t let himself think about it. For now, he had another task to do and he spent the rest of the day focusing on that. 


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning, Lance was woken up to his phone buzzing. It took a long moment for him to drag himself out of the dredges of sleep and make sense of the noise he was hearing. He’d been sleeping so well— dreaming of Keith and reliving their moment from last night— that he was still a little disoriented when he picked up the phone.

“Hello?” He mustered, rubbing at his eyes.

Immediately, Shiro’s voice filled his ear, skipping all pleasantries and getting straight to the point. “Holy shit, my plan worked!”

“Shiro,” Lance murmured, relaxing back into his pillow. “Can you call at some other time to brag? I was sleeping.”

But, unsurprisingly, Shiro was not to be deterred. “I can’t believe it. I honestly didn’t think it would work. But it did! It worked! You two are dating now!”

“I know word travels fast and all that,” Lance had closed his eyes and was once again on the edges of sleep, Shiro’s elated voice being the only thing stopping him from crossing back into it. “But how did you find out so quickly?”

“Keith told me. He came over to help us set up.” Shiro answered, his giddiness nearly contagious through the phone. Lance could feel his chances of falling back asleep slipping away with each extra minute the conversation carried on.

Vaguely, through the sleepy fog of his brain, Lance remembered Keith mentioning that he was going to be helping them set up. Apparently they had an annual Christmas Eve party that required an extreme amount of decoration. Keith had said that in the past he usually did his best to avoid helping— Scrooge spirit and all that— but that he was actually looking forward to it this year. Lance had taken it as a sign that Keith had started to see the magic in Christmas and hadn’t even spared a moment to think about the fact that it meant he’d be telling Shiro about them.

Lance didn’t care, not even in the slightest. He wanted Shiro to know. Honestly, after the months of hard work that Shiro had put in, he  _ deserved _ to know. Lance just hadn’t expected Shiro knowing to mean Shiro calling pre eight am.

“Oh yeah, big Christmas Eve party and all that,” Lance mumbled into the phone, adjusting in bed so he was more comfortable. “He mentioned that.”

“Yes, big Christmas Eve party that you are absolutely coming to.” Shiro continued. “I’m going to introduce you to everyone as Keith’s boyfriend.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re embarrassing?” Lance laughed into the phone.

“Yes, you have. A lot of times.” Shiro laughed back.

Finally giving up on going back to sleep, Lance opened his eyes and blinked against the early morning light filling his room. “It’s still true. I’m pretty sure Keith is the one who gets to introduce me like that, not you.”

“Yes, but it’s Keith. We both know he’s going to be way too awkward to do that—” Shiro started to say.

But his words were cut off by Keith in the background. “Hey!” Shiro laughed and there was a moment of scrambled noises before Lance could hear Keith again, louder this time. “Who are you even bothering this early in the morning?”

“You really are a bother,” Lance agreed, but he was smiling outright now and he knew that the warmth he felt was from more than just the blankets surrounding him.

“Both of you are bullies!” Shiro laughed and the scrambling noise came back. Lance couldn’t be completely sure, but he got the distinct impression that it was Keith swiping for the phone and Shiro dodging him. “All I’m trying to do is be supportive and to congratulate—”

“Is that  _ Lance? _ ” Keith sounded somewhere between incredulous and indignant. “You called Lance at like eight in the morning for this? Could you  _ be _ more embarrassing?”

“See?” Lance chimed in, even though he knew Keith couldn’t hear him. “You are embarrassing.”

“I’m not  _ embarrassing _ ,” Shiro emphasized, clearly trying to make his point to both of them. Lance snickered. “I am just happy for you, that’s all! And anyways,” his voice got a little quieter and it was clear to Lance that he had shifted to address this next part to Keith. “Did you know that Lance is coming to our party tomorrow?”

“I never said that!” Lance cried 

And at that exact same moment that Keith replied, “Does  _ Lance _ know that he’s coming tomorrow?”

Shiro huffed on the other end of the line and the phone shifted again. When he spoke next it was more echoed and Lance didn’t have to ask to know he’d been moved onto speaker phone. “Since you two both like teaming up on me, I might as well make it easier for you.”

“I’m sorry, Lance,” Keith said immediately.

Lance felt warm to his very core. “It’s fine, it’s not like I didn’t know what he was like.” Shiro made an indignant noise. “And anyways, I always do stuff with my family Christmas Eve, I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it.”

“Easy fix,” Shiro chimed in and it was clear that nothing they had said had dulled his mood in the least. “You leave those plans a little early and come to our plans a little late. That way you can fit everything in!”

“Are you going to be the one to ask his mom if he can ditch their family gathering early?” Keith snarked, “because if not, you don’t get to ask him to do that.”

It was obviously sarcastic. Truly, it was really obvious in the tone of Keith’s voice. Lance could practically hear the eye roll that came along with it. And yet somehow, Shiro’s response was, “That’s a great idea! Lance, what’s your mom’s number? I’ll call her right now?”

“Absolutely not,” Lance replied hastily. “I’m not going to let  _ you _ be the one to tell her the news.”

“You haven’t told her yet?” Shiro almost sounded affronted on Lance’s mom’s behalf. 

“It’s been  _ twenty-four hours _ ,” Keith said and Lance could faintly hear him smacking Shiro. Probably in the shoulder. Maybe the side. Either way, Lance was smiling at how brotherly their interactions were. “You only know because you’re needy.”

“What if I promise not to tell her?” Shiro pressed on.

“Promise not to tell who? What aren’t you telling them?” Adam’s voice joined the conversation.

“Adam will you tell your husband to butt out of other people’s business?” Lance laughed into the phone when Shiro began to protest.

“Please, that’s impossible. I know the man I married and he’s nosy.” Adam said it with such love that there couldn’t be any bite to it whatsoever. It was true, Adam  _ did _ know the man he married, and he loved the man he married for who he was, nosy and all.

“Why is everyone being mean to me today?” Shiro pouted and Lance could hear Adam laughing on the other end of the phone. 

“You know what? I’ll make you a deal.” It was probably stupid of Lance to suggest, but what was the harm, really? “If you come caroling with my family tonight, you can ask my mom about tomorrow. And if she says yes, I’ll come.”

“ _ And _ I can tell her?” Shiro prompted.

“ _ No _ !” Both Keith and Adam said in unison.

Lance was outright laughing now, his cheeks nearly hurting from how big his smile was. He may not like being woken up this early, but he couldn’t complain when it turned into something like this. He had always known he was surrounded by the best people, but this really made it apparent. Shiro, while over the top, was just truly happy for them and Lance couldn’t begrudge him that. “No, I will tell her. Keith’s coming tonight anyways. So I’ll tell her and you can ask her afterwards. And bring Adam to smooth things over if you make a mess of it.”

That got a laugh out of Keith on the other end of the phone. Shiro, though, glossed right over it. “Keith’s coming?” And then his attention was clearly focused back on Keith, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I would have,” Keith replied, “If you hadn’t rushed out of the room to call Lance the moment I gave you the news.”

“Ah,” Shiro replied, “I guess that’s possible.”

Adam sighed, but it sounded fond. “We’d love to join your family. What time?”

And so Lance divulged all the details. When and where to meet, what to wear, all the good stuff. Because Caroling was a McClain family tradition and they did it to the nines every year. Everyone listened diligently, only chiming in to comment on the fact that a Christmas sweater was required— mostly just to tease Keith for the fact that he didn’t have one. Lance assured them that he had extra— which got Keith making fun of him— and then they finally wrapped up the phone call. 

It took Lance awhile to get out of bed after that, just staring up at the ceiling and smiling to himself. He probably would’ve spent the first awake moments of his morning replaying yesterday and wondering if he’d dreamed a very realistic dream. Although, Lance could say with certainty now, dream Keith’s touch was nowhere near as intoxicating as real Keith’s touch. All through the rest of the day yesterday, Lance had been practically drunk on it, addicted to the feeling of Keith’s fingertips. Whether it was their hands accidentally brushing as they reached for the same toppings for their cookies or Keith purposely putting his hands on Lance— his shoulder, his waist, his cheeks— Lance just couldn’t get enough.

That alone should’ve been enough to confirm for him that yesterday was real, but Shiro calling him at the ass crack of dawn really confirmed it for him. And while he had already established that he wasn’t upset by this, he especially wasn’t upset because he liked hearing Keith’s voice so early in the morning. It was a really nice thing to wake up to and Lance wondered when he’d get a chance to wake up to it again.

Which, of course, only led him to wonder when he’d get to wake up not just to Keith’s voice, but to Keith himself. He knew it was a lot to ask for and he’d never actually try and talk Keith into it. But he could assume— he hoped— that someday it would happen. And since he had a whole day to pass, he decided to do it by thinking about that. Thinking about what it would be like to press feather light kisses to Keith’s cheeks, to brush his bangs out of his eyes. He wondered what it would be like to feel Keith there next to him, solid and real and undeniably  _ his. _

These thoughts chased Lance around all day, but he wasn’t complaining. He allowed himself to dwell on them while he watched TV, to consider the possibilities while he showered and ate breakfast. He didn’t have anything pressing happening until he had to be to his family’s later, so he let his mind wander and linger, let it wrap around Keith and stay there.To be fair, it was going to do that whether Lance fought against it or not, but it was easier for him to just indulge.

The only two times he brought himself back to reality to really focus on his tasks at hand were when he was selecting a sweater for Keith— a very serious and important endeavor— and when he was packaging the cookies. The four of them had carried cookie sheets full of cookies back to Lance’s dorm last night to let them sit overnight to allow the frosting to settle before Lance packaged them. He’d messed up the icing a few too many times in the past and had learned that it was better to be safe than sorry. 

Most of the day had passed by the time Lance got around to that task, and he was grateful for it. The anticipation was building up inside of him and he couldn’t wait to tell his family about Keith. He knew his mom would be over the moon. She’d only met Keith once but it had been clear from the get go that she loved him. And, like any good mother, she had been able to see straight to Lance’s heart that day, so she’d be thrilled to know that his heart was getting exactly what it wanted.

Still, there was a nervous sort of trepidation that came with announcing something that big. 

Lance was just starting to dwell on this when he got a text from saying that he, Shiro and Adam were on their way. Shiro and Adam lived the opposite direction from campus than Lance’s family which meant Lance could definitely still beat them there, but he had to get going to do so. So, he finished putting the last of the cookies in his big carrying tote and dashed out the door, grabbing his car keys for the first time in months.

The drive home was short— almost too short for Lance’s nerves. He wanted to tell his mom about Keith before Keith got there so that way he could endure any embarrassing thing she said on his own. Shiro embarrassing them was one thing because both Keith and Lance knew and loved Shiro. But Keith didn’t know Lance’s mom and Lance desperately wanted them all to make a good impression on him now that he was really, truly involved with them. Now that they were actually his family too, it was really important to Lance for them to all get along and the first step of that was not letting his mom say whatever came to mind to Keith directly.

Lance climbed out of the car once he was home, slinging his backpack full of cookies over his shoulder and picking up the second bag full of cookies to carry in. He hustled inside, struggling with the door before finally nearly tripping inside. His mom was just inside the entryway, clearly heading towards the door to let him in. She must’ve heard him struggling with the door and was coming to help. 

“Lance!” She cried, scooping the bag of cookies out of his arms as he attempted to maintain his balance. “Why are you rushing?”

“I invited Keith, Shiro and Adam to join us tonight.” Lance answered. He knew his mom wouldn’t be mad— the whole point of the holidays was friendliness and inclusion. Of course, his family was like that year round, not just at the holidays.

“Oh, wonderful!” She cried, smiling largely at him. “Why do you seem so frantic about that?”

It was now or never. Lance took a deep breath. “Well they’re going to be here literally any second and I just wanted to tell you something before they got here.” She was looking at him with an unwavering gaze and Lance knew she could anticipate the words he was about to say before he even said them. Still, he needed to say them. He needed to put them out in the open, to make them tangible. “Keith and I are, uh, dating.”

“Oh, darling,” Immediately Lance’s mom put down the bag of cookies, her hands finding his cheeks and cupping his face. Lance could feel his smile stretching from ear to ear. “That’s so wonderful. He’s such a nice boy.”

“Yeah,” Lance agreed, and he was mysteriously choked up suddenly. He cleared his throat before continuing. “He’s pretty great.”

She opened her mouth to say something else, but her eyes snapped over his shoulder. A second later, Lance heard the sound of car doors slamming shut. Mrs. McClain moved her hands away from Lance’s face, throwing them out to the side in an excited gesture that Lance was so familiar with. Before he even had a chance to turn around and see who was there— not that he didn’t already know— she was rushing past him and onto the front porch.

By the time Lance did turn around— which was, maybe, two whole seconds? — she had already wrapped Keith up in one of her all encompassing hugs, squeezing him so tightly Lance feared that he wouldn’t be able to breathe.

“Keith, darling,” She was murmuring. “Welcome to the family! Officially!”

Keith blushed at least six shades of red as he stuttered out a thank you, doing his best to hug her back even though she mostly had his arms pinned to his side. Lance, watching the situation and hearing what his mom was saying, blushed at least ten shades of red. Shiro caught his eye as he approached, smiling in a way that was both knowing and proud.

Even though Shiro was technically Lance’s boss and definitely Lance’s friend, he always held a sort of big-brother role in Lance’s life. And Keith’s, too, Lance knew. There was something about him that was just more mature and responsible, even if he wasn’t truly that much older than them. And Lance had his share of older brothers so he knew what it felt like, and Shiro really did fit the bill. He teased Lance mercilessly, every opportunity he got, but always had Lance’s back and would go to bat for him in the blink of an eye.

“Mom,” Lance stepped forward and laid a hand on her shoulder. “This is my boss, Shiro. And his husband, Adam. You should give them welcoming hugs because I’m pretty sure you’re three seconds away from suffocating Keith and I’d prefer if you didn’t.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” She let go of Keith all at once and he stumbled, as if she had been the only thing holding him up. She probably was, but to be fair it was because she was pulling him down into such a tight hug that it was nearly impossible for him to keep his feet underneath him. “I just got excited about the news!”

Shiro was snickering from his spot next to Adam— who was nudging him and looking at him pointedly out of the corners of his eyes— as he watched the scene unfold. Keith smiled, albeit a little awkwardly, and assured her that it was okay. But her sights were already shifting onto Adam and Shiro, so Keith was able to slip his way over to Lance’s side, intertwining their fingers together as they watched the other two get their bones completely annihilated in a hug.

Lance turned to apologize to Keith for the way he’d been greeted, but the words died on his tongue. Keith was watching the scene unfold before him, eyes bright with happiness. There was that same wistful expression on his face— the one he’d had the first time he’d come to Lance’s and seen what big family life was like. Only this time, much to Lance’s happiness, there wasn’t a sad or bitter edge to it. No, the expression Keith was wearing was nothing short of completely and utterly content and Lance’s heart tripled in size realizing that he and his family had caused that expression.

It took a moment for Lance to realize that Shiro had moved out of the hug and onto talking to his mom, only jerking back to reality when Shiro exclaimed, “She said yes!”

“Lance, honey,” His mom turned away from Shiro to smile at him. “Of course you can go! Why would I say no?”

“I just didn’t know—” Lance rushed to explain, worried about the sad look on his mom’s face. “I didn’t know what time our plans ended! And I would never bail on you guys.”

She was smiling again, reaching out to grab his face gently. “You’re a sweet boy. But you can definitely fit both of these things in your day tomorrow. So you should go.”

With an over dramatic sigh, Lance dropped his head back onto his own shoulders, rolling his eyes. “ _ Fine _ ,” he teased before looking at Shiro. “I  _ guess _ I’ll go.”

The smile Shiro sent him in response was so blinding that Lance couldn’t look at it. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Shiro had some hidden plan, although Lance would never be able tos ay what. He had gotten the two of them together— what else could he be aiming for? Lance knew it was silly, but there was something about how long Shiro continued to smile at him that made Lance wonder.

They all made small talk as they waited for the rest of Lance’s family to arrive, unpacking the cookies in the kitchen and dividing them up properly. Mrs. McClain was thrilled to meet Shiro and Adam after having heard so much about them both from Lance. She was also thrilled to send Lance smiles that she undoubtedly through were sly whenever she saw him interacting with Keith in any way.

They weren’t sly at all, not even in the  _ slightest _ . But Lance loved his mom and was grateful that she was so happy for him, so he didn’t say anything.

Plus, Keith bit back his own smile every time he noticed and honestly? Lance would do anything to keep seeing Keith like that— the faintest dusting of pink still on his cheeks, corner of his lip pulled between his teeth and an overwhelming feeling of happiness pouring out of him. 

Finally the rest of the family showed up and Lance finished running through introductions, still getting a thrill every time he used the word boyfriend to describe Keith. He pointedly ignored Veronica’s look.

And then they were off! Canvassing the neighborhood, stopping at each house and singing two songs before handing them a bag of cookies and moving on. At this point, the McClain family had been doing it for so long that the neighbors expected it. In the beginning, a lot of people hadn’t answered the door or had seemed awkward or uncomfortable. But now, all these years later, everyone answered after the first knock. A few of them even waited out on their front porches for them to arrive. 

Lance had given Keith the sweater he’d selected— one that looked like a gingerbread man with the neck ending right at the collar of the sweater so that it looked like the gingerbread man’s head was Keith’s head. Shiro had laughed so hard upon seeing it that he had to sit down. Keith had tried his absolute hardest to protest but every McClain in the household had insisted that a Christmas sweater was non-negotiable and Lance hadn’t brought any other ones. So with a withering sigh and a long, glowering look at Lance, Keith had ditched his hoodie and replaced it with the sweater.

It looked absolutely ridiculous on him.

Absolutely ridiculous in the same way that elf costume looked ridiculous on him that day at the mall.

Which was, to say, that he looked stupidly and unfairly attractive in it. Even if he wasn’t smiling.

A few of the neighbors had requested photos since there were new additions to the group this year and Lance threw his arm around Keith’s shoulder, pulling him flush to his side and grinning big enough for the both of them. But Lance had gotten one neighbor to text him the picture they’d taken and Lance was so surprised he nearly tripped when he saw the photo. Because in it, everyone but Keith was smiling at the camera.

Keith though—

Keith was smiling softly up at Lance, his eyes trained on Lance’s face and the edges of his smile so gentle and wistful that it made Lance’s heart ache profoundly in his chest.

Keith was smiling up at him like he couldn’t believe this was his life.

As they continued caroling, Keith slowly getting louder and louder with each song, Lance committed it to memory because this  _ was _ his life, whether he deserved it or not. And he absolutely adored his life.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I know I didn't post yesterday like I was supposed to and I'm sorry. I had a really god awful day for like 2/3rds of my day yesterday and then for the rest of it I was just super busy with family. So I needed to take care of myself and sleep last night instead of writing. I'm sorry for the delay, but I'm back! Here is the chapter I should've posted yesterday. And tomorrow, if all goes to plan, I will be posting the final chapter!
> 
> Thank you for sticking with me through this long ride! Merry Christmas and I hope you guys are having wonderful holidays! <3

Everyone had told Lance that Shiro and Adam went over the top for Christmas. Lance had believed them— there was no reason not to— but he apparently hadn’t known what  _ over the top _ really meant. He could see their house from one street over. Maybe further, honestly, but that’s where he entered the neighborhood so he couldn’t be sure. Every branch on every bush and tree was wrapped tightly with lights. They had lights outlining the roof, around every window and lining the walkways. It was honestly a surprise that they hadn’t tried to hang lights on each blade of grass. The place  _ glowed _ . Lance suspected that it might be able to be seen from space.

The inside of their house was just as extravagant. From the moment Lance walked through the door, he was slammed with Christmas. They had garland wrapping around the staircase, decorated fully with ornaments, ribbon and lights. There was a tree in their entryway as well as in their family room and each doorway was lined with garland, too. Every table had some sort of Christmas decoration on it. It was so over the top that Lance expected it to look tacky, but it didn’t. Everything was tastefully done and it looked elegant.

“Lance!” Shiro swooped into the entryway from the family room, wrapping Lance up in a hug immediately. “You made it!”

“Thank you for having me!” Lance replied as he returned the hug, even if Shiro hugged him just a little too tight.

“We’re thrilled to have you,” Shiro finally let go of him and was smiling broadly down at him.

Honestly, Lance didn’t really know anybody at the party. He knew Shiro, Adam and Keith and that was it as far as he could tell. Besides Shiro and Adam, the rest of Lance’s friends were students at their university which made them being here both unlikely and inappropriate. Lance was only allowed to attend a teacher’s party because he was a TA and the student-teacher rules were not very applicable anymore. And Keith was essentially family so the rules didn’t apply to him either.

Still, it meant that Lance knew all of three people. And two of them were hosting. So he had one person to spend the evening with. Not that it was a burden to have to share the evening with Keith because it definitely wasn’t. The burden was the fact that he had to share Keith with other people. Lance had no idea how many of these people Keith knew, but it had to be some or he wouldn’t keep coming every year. If his only connections were Shiro and Adam, he’d easily be able to just schedule things with them on his own and avoid this party.

Lance shook these thoughts out of his head as he followed Shiro into the next room. If there was one phrase that could always be used to aptly describe Lance, it was social butterfly. He flourished in any sort of social situation, able to smoothly insert himself into any conversation and get the people to enjoy his company. He loved gatherings, too. Lance found the stories other people had to tell interesting and he loved getting different views of the world, different facts and different perspectives. He loved meeting new people and talking to them because he always felt like he came out enriched. So, even if he didn’t know more than three people going in, he was determined to know more than three people by the time he left and he was confident that he’d be able to pull it off. 

“Lance, I don’t know if you’ve ever met,” Shiro drew Lance out of his thoughts with his sarcasm. “But this is Keith, he’s basically my brother. You should try talking to him, I think you two would hit it off.”

“I don’t know,” Lance played along, laying an appraising gaze on Keith as he turned around to look at the two of them, already looking so exasperated with their antics. “I’m not really in the market for any new friends.”

“Well,” Shiro shrugged, “If you change your mind, he’ll be here.”

Lance tried to maintain his stare at Keith but he couldn’t do it. Within seconds he was dissolving into laugher and Keith was shaking his head at both of them, crossing his arms over his chest while he waited for Lance to calm down. Shiro was beaming next to him again, letting out a few laughs of his own but definitely significantly more composed than Lance. It took a minute before Lance’s shoulders stopped shaking and his breathing evened out, but eventually he got there.

He stepped up to Keith, leaning in and pressing a kiss to his cheek, “Hi, babe.”

“Babe?” Keith echoed, scrunching his brows together.

“You don’t like it?” Lance shrugged as he stepped back. “Just thought I’d try it out.”

“I didn’t say I don’t like it,” Keith corrected, his dark eyes settling on Lance. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”

At some point in the last minute or so, Shiro had disappeared. He’d done it so fluidly that Lance hadn’t even noticed until he’d stepped away from Keith and found the space next to him to suddenly be empty. It was almost like an art form; how silently Shiro slipped away. It was fine with Lance though because with Shiro gone and a quick glance around the room, Lance could be certain that nobody was paying them any mind. Which meant that he was allowed to very obviously pay Keith a  _ lot  _ of mind.

Keith still had his arms crossed over his chest and he was looking at Lance, clearly waiting for him to say something back, but Lance was far too distracted to remember what Keith had said, let alone formulate some sort of proper response to it. All he knew was that Keith was in a pair of well fitting jeans and a Christmas sweater that Lance had never seen before. It was red with green arms and it had a reindeer on the front. It fit him far better than a Christmas sweater ever should.

Because, okay, the whole point of a Christmas sweater is for it to be big and kind of baggy and all around unattractive. Even Christmas sweaters that weren’t ugly were at least a little bit ugly. That was like the single most defining characteristic of one. And  _ nobody _ looked good in a Christmas sweater. It was impossible.

But somehow, Keith was doing it.

Truthfully, it shouldn’t surprise Lance. If he could pull off the elf costume, he could pull off an ugly sweater. Even if it were physically impossible for anyone else ever to do.

Keith was still looking at him expectantly and Lance finally met his eyes. His hair was down, bangs falling across his face and framing his eyes. There was a ghost of a smile on his lips as he watched Lance— who certainly hadn’t been subtle at all— and continued to wait for him to return to their conversation. 

“You look great,” Lance said, because they both knew that he had no idea what had been going on before. It was clear on Keith’s face that he knew Lance had lost all previous trains of thought.

“Thanks,” Keith laughed a little as he replied and he finally uncrossed his arms from over his chest. He was smiling up at Lance for a moment before adding, “You look nice, too.”

“Yeah, but not like you.” As it turned out, the fact that Lance was dating Keith didn’t make him less of an idiot in front of Keith. Hopefully the fact that they were dating would mean that Keith would choose to stay, even after Lance was being an idiot. “I mean, you’re the only person in the history of ever to look good in a Christmas sweater.”

“In the history of  _ ever _ ?” Keith mocked and Lance was relieved to know that some things truly didn’t ever change. “The  _ whole _ history?”

“Listen here, Kogane,” It was Lance’s turn to cross his arms and he did so stubbornly, “I can just leave right now.”

Keith crossed the small distance between them and pulled Lance’s arms away from his chest. “But then how am I supposed to introduce you to my parents?”

Lance could feel himself pale. “Your parents are here? Oh I’m  _ so _ not ready to meet them!” He was instantly rambling and he knew it, but he couldn’t stop. Suddenly his nerves were on fire and he didn’t know what to do with his hands. It felt like anything he did with them was wrong or awkward in some way. “ I can’t meet them dressed like this! I need to make a perfect impression! I need—”

“Lance,” Keith reached up and stroked gently across his cheek. “Take a deep breath first.” Lance obliged, sucking in a breath and holding it for a few seconds before exhaling. “It’s going to be fine, they’re going to love you.”

“No, no. This is all wrong. I want to meet them over some fancy dinner where I woo them with my understanding of the way they order silverware at fancy restaurants.” 

For a moment, Keith was looking incredulously at him. And then he was laughing. Throwing his head back and laughing outright and even though Lance knew Keith was definitely laughing  _ at _ him and not at all  _ with _ him, he couldn’t be upset because he would never get sick of seeing Keith like this. There was no such thing as getting used to Keith’s incredible laugh, especially when he was the cause of it. 

“Who do you think my parents are?” He asked once he finally settled down a little. “God, we eat off of paper plates half the time. It’s going to be fine.”

It was still distinctly  _ not _ fine and  _ not  _ going to be fine, but Lance could acknowledge a losing battle when he saw one. Plus hadn’t he come in here thinking about his excellent social skills and putting them to use? Who better to use them on than Keith’s parents?

“Fine,” He sighed in defeat, “Let’s go meet them.”

“Well don’t sound too excited,” Keith teased, but he slid his fingers through Lance’s anyways and began to tug him across the room and into the kitchen. 

It was clear from the route they were taking who Keith’s parents were as soon as they walked in the room— Keith was making a beeline for two people on the outskirts of the crowd, heads leaned together as they talked. But even if that hadn’t been obvious, Lance would’ve known Keith’s parents immediately. Keith looked like a dead split between the two of them. As they approached, Lance looked between the two of them to sort it out.

He definitely had his mom’s eyes, that was clear even from across the room. He got his dad’s smile and his dad’s nose, but his general face shape and hair color were more his mom. It was interesting to approach them with these thoughts in his head because in a weird way, it made Lance feel like he knew them a little bit already.

“Mom, Dad,” Keith drew their attention with no preamble. “This is Lance.”

“Lance!” His mom cried, pushing Keith gently aside and immediately enveloping him in a hug.

Lance knew that his mom had always been a hugger but maybe it was a mom thing in general because Mrs. Kogane was wrapping him up the same way his mom did. Her hands looped around his shoulders, drawing him closer as if she were cradling him. And that was  _ definitely _ a mom thing. It was distinctly comforting and it made a lot of the worry Lance had been harboring dissipate. He knew how to deal with mom’s and Keith’s mom seemed especially kind. Suddenly this didn’t feel like such an overwhelming thing at all.

“It’s so nice to meet you,” Lance murmured as he hugged her back, closing his eyes and just melting into the embrace. What could he say? Lance had always been a hugger too and he appreciated people who were able to match his general level of enthusiasm about hugging.

“Keith has told us so much about you!” She said, her arms slipping away so that she was gripping Lance’s shoulders and holding him at arm’s length suddenly so she could really look at him. “He says the nicest things!”

“Keith? Really? Are you sure we’re talking about the same person?” Lance joked. Keith’s dad laughed. Keith stomped gently on his foot.

“I know he can be a little rough around the edges,” She began.

Keith interjected with a long, drawn out “Mooooom,”

But, like any true mom, she moved on as if she hadn’t heard him at all. “But he really has a heart of gold underneath that. And I’m so glad you can see it, too.”

As much as Lance was all for teasing Keith as much as possible, there was so much sincerity in his mom’s voice that Lance couldn’t bring himself to reply sarcastically. It wasn’t hard for him to answer her because really, all he was doing was speaking the words of his heart.

“Yeah, he’s amazing,” Lance sombered, smiling a little at his feet as he spoke, even though Keith’s mom was still holding him by the shoulders. “He’s very thoughtful and he listens really well. And I just— I really enjoy being around him.”

He could feel the weight of all three sets of eyes on him as he scuffed his shoe across the floor, waiting for anyone to break the silence. The rest of the room was full of conversation but it all seemed drowned out, like they were in their own little bubble that the noise couldn’t reach through. 

“Well now,” Keith’s dad finally spoke up for the first time, his voice deeper than Lance would’ve expected. “He’s pretty good, but I wouldn’t say amazing.”

Lance laughed, the tension easing out of his shoulders as Keith made an indignant sound. “Okay, this was great and all, really nice introductions. But we have to go. So if you don’t mind—” Keith grabbed Lance’s arm and tugged until he was stumbling free of Mrs. Kogane’s grasp, “We’ll see you guys later, okay?”

“Wait!” Lance laughed as Keith dragged him away, “I thought it was important that I meet them!”

“You did meet them,” Keith countered, “I never said you have to do more than that.” Lance laughed outright at that, speeding up so he was next to Keith, moving in sync with him and not being pulled around by him. “Plus, there’s somewhere else we need to be.”

“Oh? And where’s that?”

Keith stopped abruptly and Lance nearly tripped over his own feet trying to stop with him. “Right here,”

“Right… here?” Lance glanced around. They were no longer in the main area of the house, no longer surrounded by crowds of people. Keith had pulled them out of the kitchen and down a hallway before stopping them in the doorway of the laundry room which had a door that lead outside. “What’s so special about right here?”

Keith took an audible breath, he met Lance’s eyes, and then he pointed up. 

Lance followed his gaze, glancing over their heads to find a sprig of mistletoe hanging from the doorway above them. He was immediately hot to his very core.

“Why on Earth would Shiro hang one here?” Lance asked as he looked back down at Keith, hoping to mask the way his entire body was trembling. “Who did he expect to be standing in the laundry room?”

“Shiro didn’t hang this,” Keith said, his hands sliding up Lance’s arms and around his shoulders. One of his hands pressed into the space between Lance’s shoulder blades, the other curled into the hair at the nape of his neck as Keith leaned closer. When he was so close that Lance could  _ feel _ the words, he added, “I did.”

And then, suddenly, there was no space between them.

Keith’s lips were surprisingly soft underneath Lance’s as he leaned into him, pressing firmly against him. His hands held tight onto Lance, preventing him from moving away. Not that Lance wanted to. He would never do anything but move closer. And so he did. His hands found Keith’s hips and he pulled him gently forward until they were flush against each other, lips still connected and bodies pressing together.

Lance’s heart was thundering in his chest so hard that he wasn’t positive that Keith couldn’t feel it with how close they were. Kissing Keith was like fireworks. Every nerve ending in his body was alight, every cell singing. He was clutching onto Keith’s hips like his life depended on it. And while that likely wasn’t true, his stability definitely  _ did _ depend on this. Lance was certain that his knees would give out on him if they disconnected now.

But they didn’t. They continued to kiss, their hands moving a little freely, feeling each other. It was incredibly to Lance, and he couldn’t help but marvel at it. Keith was here. He was solid and real and he was  _ kissing _ Lance. And if the way his hand splayed out on Lance’s lower back, pressing him closer to Keith, was any indication, he was  _ enjoying _ it.

Lance was certainly enjoying it. If his head weren’t so foggy, if his senses were filled with anything other than  _ Keith _ , he’d think up a better way to describe how thoroughly he was enjoying it. If he could string together a coherent thought in any way, he’d be waxing poetic about kissing Keith. He’d be writing poetry, screaming it from the rooftops. He certainly had a lot to say about it, about how wonderful it was, how it was miles better than his dreams of kissing Keith had ever been. If he weren’t actively kissing Keith, he’d be talking about kissing Keith and that seemed like an accurate representation of his brain at the moment.

Finally they broke apart. Because, well, party. And other people. And breathing, too, really. Although, again, Lance was willing to never breathe again if it meant getting to kiss Keith. It was a sure fire way to die happily and honestly? Based off of that kiss? It’d be a totally worthwhile way to die. 

As soon as their lips parted, Lance was thinking about kissing Keith again.

“Was that… okay?” Keith asked as if the answer weren’t obvious. He asked like Lance wasn’t still holding onto him, like Lance wasn’t leaning against the doorframe behind him, pulling Keith into his chest. He asked like Lance wasn’t watching his lips while he spoke, waiting for a chance to capture them again.

“The only thing that’s not okay right now,” Lance murmured into the space between them and it was honest to god the most intimate moment of Lance’s entire life, “Is the fact that you’re not kissing me anymore.”

Keith huffed out a laugh and that was all the permission Lance needed. He reached up to cup Keith’s face in his hand and guided their lips back together, kissing him soundly and thoroughly. Keith melted into Lance and together they let the door frame hold both of them up, their legs tangled together. With every new kiss, Lance lost more of his breath, but he didn’t care. He hummed in appreciation and Keith kissed the sound right off of his lips. It was immediately Lance’s new favorite thing. 

The fireworks that had been in Lance’s veins earlier where behind his eyelids now as he continued to kiss Keith. If kissing the Keith the first time had been perfection, this was straight ascension to heaven. The only thing Lance could think of that might be better than this was kissing Keith for a third time. And then a fourth. And then a forty millionth, because he planned on kissing Keith a lot.

“Okay,” Keith breathed as he pulled away, Lance chasing his lips for one more kiss. “We are at a party and we do have to be social.”

“Do we?” Lance frowned, “I don’t know anyone here but you. So as far as I’m concerned, I  _ am _ being social.”

With a fond shake of the head, Keith pressed away from him, only going to the other side of the doorway and leaning on the other end of the door frame. He wasn’t looking at Lance but it was easy enough for Lance to tell that his knees were too weak to hold him up, too.

“You did this?” Lance repeated after a moment, gesturing towards the mistletoe.

Keith’s eyes trailed Lance’s finger, settling on the sprig. There was something growing in Lance’s chest. It almost felt like flowers, branching out to every corner inside of him and blooming. In no time he had an entire field of flowers inside of him, beautiful and delicate, just like his feelings for Keith.

“Yeah,” Keith glanced at Lance’s eyes. “I wasn’t about to wait any longer and I figured nobody would interrupt with it being a tradition and all.”

“How many people did you expect to be hanging out in the laundry room?” Lance nudged Keith’s foot with his own, smiling.

“That was extra precaution.” Keith replied, glancing at their feet, “Because I wasn’t really planning on only one kiss.”

“So then you got your Christmas wish, huh?” Lance joked, also looking down at their feet that were still touching. “Which means I can take back your Christmas gift then, right?”

“You got me a Christmas gift?” Keith asked, looking up in awe.

“Well yeah,” Lance said, scratching at the back of his neck. “I don’t know why that’s so surprising.”

Keith considered this for a moment before pressing off the wall finally. It took a second for his legs to get fully underneath him, but they did, and he took two small steps to be standing right in front of Lance. “You’re right,” he said, a finger hooking under Lance’s chin and tilting his face up so they were eye-to-eye, “I’m not surprised. Because you, babe, are the best.” And then Keith kissed him again.

It was short and sweet and Keith was gone far sooner than Lance would’ve liked, heading back towards the rest of the party. It took Lance a moment for his mind to catch up, but when it did, he was scrambling after Keith into the main room crying, “Babe? See! You do like it! And you thought I wouldn’t notice!”

Keith laughed and waited for him, threading their fingers together again before taking Lance around the party and properly introducing him to a bunch of people— kiss swollen lips and all— like he was supposed to do in the beginning. And if Shiro noticed— which Lance was certain he did— he didn’t say anything. He just let them continue about their night and never asked questions if they disappeared for awhile.


	13. Chapter 13

By the time Lance made it to Keith’s dorm that evening, he’d already had a perfect Christmas. He’d gone home early in the morning to help his family cook breakfast before they opened gifts. He was the first one to arrive which wasn’t unusual, so he had hopped right into the kitchen. Eventually everyone else had showed up, they’d eaten and then exchanged gifts. Lance had gotten everything he’d asked Santa for because, as Sylvio put it, Santa never disappoints. And Lance had been a good boy this year, obviously.

He knew that Keith had gone home to celebrate with his parents and was planning on stopping by Shiro and Adam’s house after that, so they’d agreed to get together in the evening once all the other festivities were out of the way. They’d been texting off and on all day but nothing concrete and Lance was fine with that. He had memories to make and time to spend with his family and he knew Keith had to do the same. Plus, he was going to be seeing him that day so he could wait.

His family spent a good amount of the day gushing about Keith, telling Lance how happy they were for him and what a great guy Keith seemed to be. It wasn’t the first time Lance had brought someone home but it was the first time that person had received such a warm welcome from his family. Usually they were at least a little hesitant to like whoever it was. But his entire family seemed to be swept completely away by Keith, which was far too nice of a feeling for Lance to figure out how to put into words.

Finally, after a big dinner and a lot of hugs, Lance had been released. He headed back to his place first to drop off all of his gifts before making the short trek over to Keith’s. And then, suddenly, he was standing in front of the door to Keith’s dorm, hand poised to knock. He was just about to lower his knuckles to the wood when he thought better of it. It wouldn’t be the first time he just let himself into Keith’s dorm and, if everything went the way he wanted it to, it wouldn’t be the last, either. So instead, he reached down and gripped the handle, twisting the knob and pushing the door open.

“Merry Christmas!” He called as he stepped into the house, the gift he’d gotten Keith hidden behind his back as he kicked his shoes off in the entryway.

There wasn’t really a point in hiding it— he’d told Keith that he’d gotten him a gift. Still, there was some suspense to the situation when he kept it stashed behind his back like this and he liked that.

“Merry Christmas!” Keith replied from somewhere further into the dorm. There was a brief clattering noise which indicated that Keith was in the kitchen. 

Lance followed the noise and his voice and sure enough— there he was. 

Their dorms didn’t have ovens or stoves or anything of the sort, but they did have a few cupboards, some counter space and a microwave. It wasn’t really a kitchen, but Lance had never known what else to call it, so he’d always just gone with that.

“You alright in here?” Lance joked as he propped his shoulder on the doorframe and looked at Keith. “I heard a lot of noise.”

“The mug was hot,” Keith replied petulantly, shaking his hand next to him after burning his fingers. 

Lance stepped into the room, set his gift down on the counter and then collected Keith’s burned hand, “Yes,” He agreed, bringing each fingertip up to his lips and then kissing it gently, “That’s what happens to things in the microwave. They get hot.”

Keith glowered at him, but there was a soft blush dusting his cheeks as he watched, enraptured, Lance dole out his kisses. “If you’re going to be a jerk, I’m not giving you the cocoa I made for you.”

“I’m kissing it all better,” Lance murmured, his lips brushing Keith’s fingers as he spoke, his words soft. He saw a small shiver wrack through Keith at the sensation. “How is that mean?”

“You’re making fun of me,” Keith frowned, but he made no move to pull his hand away from Lance.

“You’re the one who burned yourself because you didn’t know the mug would be hot coming out of the microwave.” Lance retorted. 

He shifted his kisses then, planting one on the back of Keith’s hand. And then his wrist. And then up his arm, across his shoulder, up his neck, across his cheek and finally to his lips. Keith watched him the whole time, mouth parted in wonder, and gratefully accepted the final kiss when Lance made it to his lips. It was a short kiss, but it was sweet to the very core and they both pulled away smiling.

“Fine,” Keith sighed after a moment, “I guess that makes up for you being a jerk. You can have your cocoa.”

But Lance had already snagged the blue mug off the counter and was heading to the family room, hands clutched around the ceramic, absorbing the heat. Keith chuckled a little as he grabbed his own mug and trailed after Lance. It was only once he was in the family room that Lance realized he’d forgotten his gift in the kitchen and had to hustle back to grab it.

By the time he returned— which was honestly like ten seconds later— Keith had already managed to plop down on the couch and pull out a blanket, clearly waiting expectantly for Lance to come join him. Lance did with no hesitation, dropping down onto the couch himself and holding both the gift and the mug of cocoa up high so Keith could cover his lap in the other half of the blanket.

Lance could feel Keith pressed to his side, could feel the warm, firm line of him that meant he was really there. And even though Lance had been having these doubtful thoughts for nearly the last two weeks, he still couldn’t quite believe this was real. Just to be sure, he turned his head to look at Keith, only to find Keith already looking down at him gently.

Keith leaned in then, closing the distance between them and kissing Lance a little more thoroughly than Lance had kissed him before. His one hand came up to cup the side of Lance’s face, tilting his chin the tiniest bit higher so they were aligned perfectly and Lance didn’t even try to stop himself from melting into it. 

As their lips stayed connected, slow but genuine kisses being shared, Lance thought about how this was really all that he’d wanted for Christmas. Even if he’d gone home this morning and not gotten a single gift, not seen a single other member of his family, he would consider this Christmas a success because he was here, with Keith and they were together. Like,  _ together _ together.

“I’m glad we’re doing this now,” Keith whispered as he pulled away slightly. He didn’t go far— he  _ couldn’t _ go far, he was pressed up against the arm of the couch. But he didn’t even try to go far. He moved back just enough to be able to survey Lance’s face. Which, as it turned out, was just far enough for Lance to be able to see the sweet smile curling at his lips and the way his eyes seemed to glow.

In the background, Keith had turned on his Christmas tree. It was the only light source in this room which meant that the room sort of glowed in soft, warm light and the feeling of Christmas magic was amplified.

“Me too,” Lance uttered, his entire being teeming with positive emotions. He could feel them filling his heart, spilling over into the rest of him. Every inch of him was content in this exact moment, with Keith’s hand still on his cheek and his mouth only inches away. “We spent too long not doing that.”

Keith huffed out a quiet laugh, shaking his head affectionately. “Yes,” He agreed quietly, “We did. But we don’t have to waste any more time.”

“Does that mean you’re going to kiss me again?” Lance asked.

Keith didn’t answer with words.

When they broke apart again, Lance allowed Keith to actually put some distance between the two of them. As much as he enjoyed kissing Keith— and god, did he ever— he knew they had to do other things. And he wanted to do other things with Keith. He didn’t want their relationship to just be kisses. He wanted it to be things like snuggling and holding hands. He wanted to be able to text Keith whenever a thought struck him. He wanted Keith to be one of his closest people, to know he could go to him with anything and to know that he was there waiting at the end of the day, regardless of whether it was a good or a bad day.

Lance wanted the whole nine yards, the stereotypical relationship.

And he was confident that he’d gotten just that.

“Here,” Lance said after sipping on his cocoa for a minute. He lifted the gift back up and offered it to Keith who took it with a grateful smile. “I hope you like it.”

“I’m sure I will,” Keith set down his own cocoa and began to undo the wrapping paper gently, but not slowly. It ripped in a few places but he kept moving on, tossing it to the ground and opening the lid of the box inside, his eyes lighting up. “You went back for this?”

“Yeah,” Lance smiled a little sheepishly. His heart was expanding in his chest as he watched Keith gently take the pocket knife out of the box and inspect it. He was smiling, clearly agog with the situation. 

“I—” He set the knife back down in the box and turned to pull Lance into a hug, whispering, “Thank you.”

Lance leaned into the embrace, resting his head on Keith’s shoulder and just enjoying how it felt to be held by him. Over Keith’s shoulder, Lance could see out one of the windows and it had started to snow. There was still plenty of snow on the ground from the last week, but there was something so delicate and beautiful about watching the large flakes float to the ground, being carried gently on the wind. It made Lance feel complete.

“Actually,” Keith pulled back and leaned over the side of the couch, coming back up with a box in his hands, “I got you something, too.”

“Keith,” Lance breathed as he accepted the box delicately in his hands. 

Keith watched him eagerly as he peeled back the paper to reveal what was underneath. Immediately, Lance was elated. Hiding under the wrapping paper was a polaroid camera— the exact one he’d been wanting for awhile. There was something vintage and nostalgic about it and Lance had a pretty empty bulletin board in his room that was begging for some pictures to be added. It was honestly the perfect gift and Lance was immediately turning his broad smile on Keith as he clutched the box to his chest.

“How did you know?” He asked, swaying a little from side to side in excitement, “It was the one thing I asked for that I didn’t get from my family.”

“I know,” Keith said. “I told you mom that I had gotten it for you and asked her not to. It was the one thing she was having trouble finding anyways, so she was happy to oblige.”

“I can’t believe you and my mom are already conspiring against me.” Lance murmured, but he was already starting to open the box.

“I wouldn’t call it conspiring,” Keith remarked as he sipped at his hot chocolate and watched Lance set the camera up. “We both just want to make you happy.”

That caused Lance to pause, drawing his eyes back up to Keith’s face. It was open and sincere and looking unabashedly back at Lance. Keith knew what he said and he meant what he said. It was written in every line of his expression.

“You do make me happy,” Lance proclaimed genuinely, reaching a hand out to rest it on Keith’s knee. “Incredibly happy.”

That seemed to choke Keith up a tiny bit and he averted his gaze. Lance smiled warmly as he withdrew his hand and finished inserting the film into the camera, scooting so he was pressed against Keith and flipping the camera around on the two of them. Keith huffed out a sigh, clearly not actually put out at all by this. He leaned forward and set his mug of cocoa down on the coffee table in front of them before settling back into the couch, throwing his arm around Lance’s shoulders and leaning in.

Lance smiled up at the camera, his heart filled to the brim, and clicked the button. The flash went off and then the film slid up out of the top of the camera. Lance snagged it, setting the camera down on the table and holding it between the two of them so they could watch it develop together. 

The image appeared slowly, a faint outline coming through first before the rest of the colors. It was mystical watching the picture appear right in front of their eyes and Lance loved every single moment of it. He had no doubt that he would soon fill his bulletin board to the brim with pictures of Keith, or pictures of both of them. 

He glanced up at Keith then, about to say something, when Keith shook his head indicating that Lance needed to wait. So he did. He waited while Keith dug his phone out of his pocket and held it in front of them, the way Lance had just been holding the polaroid camera. Lance adjusted slightly, smiling up at the phone while Keith took the picture.

“My polaroid wasn’t good enough for you?” Lance teased as he looked at the film that was still in his hands.

“Your polaroid is great,” Keith flipped his phone around so Lance could see, clicking the power button to illuminate the screen. “But it can’t become the background of my phone.”

There, on the screen of Keith’s phone, smiling back at Lance, was the picture of the two of them.

“Send that to me,” Lance said, but his phone vibrated before Keith had a chance to say anything. Lance glanced down at it to see that Keith was already ahead of the game. “You’re good.”

They both picked their hot chocolates back up and Keith flipped on the TV. Lance finally set both his phone and the polaroid on the table and settled into the couch, adjusting the blanket over top of him. They watched a movie quietly for awhile, leaning into each other and enjoying just being together.

Finally, when Lance was starting to feel a little tired, he turned his head— which he was now resting on Keith’s shoulder— to glance up at Keith. “So will you admit it?” he asked.

“Admit what?”

“That Christmas magic is real.” Lance murmured, sitting up so that he could look Keith directly in the face.

“No,” Keith shook his head, but there was a smile playing on his lips.

“Really? After everything? You didn’t feel any magic?” Lance almost wanted to deflate in on himself. He’d been so sure that he’d given Keith such a great holiday season and that he’d gotten Keith to see the magic that came with Christmas. Even though he’d gotten everything else he wanted, even though Keith was leaning in towards him, Lance was a little disappointed.

“Oh, I felt plenty of magic.” Keith replied, fingers splaying out over Lance’s hips and pulling him closer. “But it wasn’t Christmas magic.” He was so close now. Lance could feel his breath, could see each of his eyelashes in the dim Christmas tree light. “It was Lance magic.”

And then Keith kissed him for what already felt like the millionth time and Lance responded eagerly, allowing himself to be swept away. And in that moment, it didn’t matter if it was Christmas magic or Lance magic. All that mattered was that they’d both had a wonderful holiday season and things looked incredibly good for them to continue to have wonderful holiday seasons for years and years to come. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END.
> 
> Holy shit for awhile there I didn't think I'd ever get to the end. I never intended for this to break 60k but here we are. And honestly, the fact that I did this in just over two weeks, only skipping ONE day, is incredible to me. I'm going to need some mental time off after this, but it's done and I'm proud of it!
> 
> Thank you to all of you who came on this ride with me, I appreciate it so much. I hope you all had wonderful holiday seasons and I hope all of you find a love like this some day <3
> 
> All my love to every one of you <3


End file.
